The Kitchen Office

Palace architect John Hawks’ 1767 architectural plans show that the first floor of the Kitchen Office included the kitchen itself, a scullery for the cleaning and storage of dishes, a wash house, and workspace for the governor's secretary. In a letter Governor Tryon mentioned that the second-floor rooms were “ intended for Servants Chambers, and a Laundry."

When you visit the Kitchen keep in mind that while it may appear primitive by today’s standards, it represented the very latest in "modern" conveniences of 1770. The sights and sounds and smells of an 18th-century kitchen await you here. Throughout the Kitchen office, costumed craftspeople demonstrate 18th-century household chores, then invite you to try your hand at cooking, ironing, spinning, and weaving.

There are early maps of North Carolina on the walls of the office of the governor’s secretary and upstairs, rooms are laid out as they might have been when they were used as living quarters for the servants.



The Stable Office

The Stable Office, according to John Hawk’s 1767 plans, featured two rooms for stables, one with four stalls and the other with six, as well as a "Coach House" and "Harness Room." In a later description written in 1783, Mr. Hawks added that the Stable Office also included "Bedrooms for the servant employed in the stables and Lofts for hay or fodder etc."

The Stable Office is the only remaining part of the original Palace complex. Both wings survived the 1798 fire that destroyed the main building of the Palace, but the Kitchen Office was demolished sometime in the early 19th century.

The Stable Office had many functions over the years. After the Civil War it was used as a mission chapel and as a school for Christ Episcopal Church. In a memoir of North Carolina in the 1880s, John H. Wheeler noted that "the stables are still in a good state of preservation, and are now used as school rooms." The building was stuccoed in the 1870s, had its roof rebuilt at least once, and additions made in the rear. It was converted to residential use in the late 19th century and was an apartment house when the restoration of Tryon Palace began in the early 1950s.

Restoration on the Stable Office began in 1951. The 19th century roof, rear additions, and post-18th-century interiors were removed. When stucco was removed from the walls, about 75 percent of the original brickwork remained. False windows, which were part of the 18th-century design but which had been opened up in the 19th century, were bricked in again. Yellow brick pavers were laid for the floor, based on pavers found in archaeological digs. Original portions of the Stable Office include most of the exterior walls and the walls of the central passage. The wall separating the harness room from the stable was reconstructed.


Servants at the Palace

We do not know the number or names of the servants who worked for the Tryons in the Palace (1770-1771). We do know something about the Tryons’ servants before and after they lived in New Bern.

In a 1765 letter, Governor Tryon mentioned seven servants at his home in Brunswick, North Carolina:

Kitchen and Stable Wings | Dixon House | Stanly House | Hay House | Academy Museum