Walkerton served as a tavern only for a few years. At various times it housed a general store, a voting precinct, and a post office. In 1864, as evidenced by the somber crimson patina that spots the wooden floors, it was used as a Civil War field hospital for wounded Union cavalrymen. From 1857 to 1941, it was owned and occupied by the Hopkins family, many of whom are buried in the family cemetery behind the house. In 1936, Ms. Hopkins invited her nephew, a young Doug Fleet, to come live with her at Walkerton and to go to school in the area. Fleet packed up and headed to Glen Allen, where he lived off-and-on for several years. In 1941 it was sold to George and Ruth Bowles, the grandparents of Pratt Cook. As a child, Cook spent his weekends at Walkerton, plowing the garden with his grandfather, exploring the property, and enjoying his grandmother's country breakfasts.

As a Hampden-Sydney student, Cook lived there during the summers. His grandfather passed away in 1981, and when Cook went off to law school in 1982, he chose University of Richmond's T.C. Williams so he could live at Walkerton and look after his grandmother. That year, Walkerton was hit badly by storm damage. Her bricks, made on the property, were crumbling, and the back wall began to bulge. Structural engineers told them the house would be unsafe in a matter of years, and repairs would cost upwards of seven digits.

The Cooks couldn't reasonably take on the project but didn't want the house to go to ruin. As friends of Doug Fleet, they knew of his connections to the house and his dedication to historical restoration. When Walkerton went on the market, they approached Fleet, then a Trustee. He took immediate interest and in 1986 bought the house and hired a crew to begin restoration. But he had bad luck with the contractors.

Over the next seven years, he hired and fired three different companies. Frustrated, Fleet heard mention of Tom Davis, a Hampden-Sydney man who owned a small company called Virginia Restoration. Happy to employ the skills of an alumnus, Fleet offered him the job.

Davis's first task was to undo some of the shoddy work of his predecessors. He then reworked the foundation and repaired the brick. Working closely with Fleet, he meticulously refurbished the house.

Mr. Fleet died in 1998, but he lived to see the tavern restored to today's splendor. Now well known for its intriguing history and impressive design, Walkerton was sold to Henrico County, which plans to use it as a site for cultural programs.

For Davis, who has had a penchant for unique historical structures ever since his freshman year in Stagger Inn, the storied east end of Venable Hall, Walkerton was "the project of a lifetime." The old tavern's large Christian door with its cross and panels gives immediate evidence of the house's rustic elegance. Four large chambers open directly into the main hall, and stairs of extraordinary richness ascend three runs.

On the second floor, a two-segment swinging partition, believed to be the only second story movable wall recorded in a 19th-century home in Virginia, transforms a hallway and chamber into a ballroom. In the floor above this room are metal plates, from which a chandelier once hung in the ballroom below. When it was time to open or close the swinging partition, servants on the third floor would lift the metal plate, raising the chandelier enough for the wall to swing beneath it.

TOM DAVIS GOT INTO RESTORATION quite by chance. After graduation he worked in a bank for two years and earned his MBA at Wake Forest. He grew tired of the 9-to-5 routine, however, and took on a small part-time project designing and restoring the computer literacy classroom at Randolph-Macon College. ("Isn't it logical," he asks, "that they needed a Hampden-Sydney man for their work?") He did numerous other jobs at Macon, including renovating athletic facilities, often working closely with Jim Blackburn, former coach and administrator at Randolph-Macon and now Dean of Students at Hampden-Sydney.

After finishing the work at R-MC, he started an incorporated business. One thing quickly led to another, and Davis learned much of the trade as he went. "My liberal arts background really came in handy," he said with typical enthusiasm. "I was able to learn all aspects of renovation rather than just specialize in one technical skill." Now, he is actively in charge of every dimension of the company, from accounting, to management, to skilled labor.

The three-story open staircase is Walkerton's grandest feature.

HIS TRAINING IN FINANCE and economics certainly helps him run the business side (though, much to his pleasure, he spends the majority of his time in the field). He also credits the communication skills he learned at the College for much of his success. "Because of what I learned at Hampden-Sydney, I can articulate ideas well to clients, effectively communicate what things will look like and what we need to get there," he said. "That's something a lot of contractors struggle with."

Another step in the success story has been Davis's work for fellow Hampden-Sydney alumni. In particular, helping to galvanize Davis's position in the field has been Virginia Restoration's extensive work on Claremont, a manor house in Surrey County owned by the family of Hampden-Sydney Trustee Roger Kirby '88. Davis also renovated Rosemont, located on the same plantation, for Roger's brother Wade Kirby '80. Since then he has taken on numerous other contracts from alumni.

While at Hampden-Sydney, Davis entertained the idea of pursuing architecture school, but he's now grateful that he didn't. "I see a lot of unhappy architects," he said. "I'd hate to be boxed into one specific part of this business. Now, I can do some architectural and design work, and still get to do the other stuff."

Constantly in search of unique and odd projects, Davis says that Virginia Restoration will move out of contracting and into development. His plan, a refreshing anomaly in a market driven by suburban houses devoid of age and craftsmanship, is to develop restoratively, fixing up existing structures rather than tearing them down and building new ones. Also incongruous: Davis wants to scale back. He is running three crews, which, he says, is one too many. "What I do is very custom-oriented," he said. "I have to be at each job every day, and if I get too big, I can't do that."

Nowadays, Davis's work can be seen on the Richmond Garden Tour, on the National Register of Historic Places, and in area magazines and reviews, all, like Wakerton, offering evidence of his commitment to custom craftsmanship and attention to detail.