The Pump House
Situated on the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg, Virginia, The Pump House was built in 1947 by the American Viscose Corporation. The building contains a series of pumps housed in a room located beneath the riverbed. These pumps were originally installed to provide a nearby cellophane factory with the water it required to cool its manufacturing equipment.
The current owners purchased the property in 1998 and hired Rappahannock Restoration to renovate the six-story industrial building into a weekend home. The original structure consists of thick concrete walls and many flights of industrial steel cat-walk stairs, without any livable space or complete floors.
With a lot of determination and engineering, the crew built out two new floors from the original concrete shell. The construction included a number of custom features: a new kitchen, a full bath and a wall of built-in shelves to house a library of books and objects d'art. The new features left much of the original building intact, with an abundance of exposed brick and concrete with steel stairs and framing beams accentuated throughout.
BEFORE
The first floor entry of the Pump House before restoration, with an accumulation of rust, dirt and neglect.
after
The Pump House as it is today, following extensive renovations by Rappahannock Restoration.
INDUSTRIAL ENTRY
The double doors are original to the building. They were first installed to allow the parts of the pump system to be lowered to the pump room, a piece at a time. The original I-beam hoist trolley remains installed today. The tall cabinet is a custom piece built by Rappahannock Restoration.
new MEETS old
The custom kitchen counter is made of poured concrete, the same material used to construct much of the Pump House when it was first built in 1947.
the library
The second floor features a wall of built-in shelves, housing books on Eastern art, modern architecture and rugs from around of the world.
period detail
The library features mid-century accents, made around the time the Pump House was built.
original elements
Signage from the days of the American Viscose Corporation can be found through the property.
structural textures
The original steel cat-walk stairs connect the first and second floors. Through a hidden door, the stairs continue for four more flights down to the original pump room situated beneath the river.
in the beginning
These archival pictures from the American Viscose Corporation show the Pump House under construction in the winter of 1947.
PUMp room
The decommissioned works of the Pump House remain installed today, far below the living areas built out by Rappahannock Restoration.