Diversity in Decor: Fireplace Tiles and Murals from the Overhills Estate on Fort Bragg

Summary

The Overhills Estate became property of the United States government in 1997. Previously the estate was a private, exclusive leisure and sports home for the vacationing Rockefeller family and their special guests, and later a working farm. Several residences were built on the estate, along with support structures and landscape features geared towards recreational activities of seasonal visitors. At its pinnacle, the furnishings of these domestic buildings represented affluence. Of particular interest were built-in decorative elements, some dating to the late 17th and mid-18th centuries, which remained in situ once the estate changed ownership. These tiles and murals testify to a penchant for indoor art. As the buildings pass into the archaeological record, destroyed by cultural and natural processes, evidence of this artwork now becomes artifacts of remembrance.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Digging Domestic Spaces: An Exploration of Homesteads, Habitations and Farms   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-71,09