This is the premier of a line of hand-crafted historical replicas
by artisan and craftsman, Ben Murch of Covenant Farm Woodworks.

The First Church Project was launched in partnership with The Christian History Society of America in Fishersville, Virgina. They purchased our very first Spittin' Image Birdhouse. The concept was to offer true-to-life replicas of the First Church building to older congregations all over America. Most churches over 100 years old have sketches, drawing, paintings or even an ancient photograph of their first church building.
While the project never really took off, it launched us into specializing in replicas!


CLICK THIS BANNER TO SEE ALL OF THE PHOTOS OF RED HILL

This is the replica that started it all off! Patrick Henry's home at Red Hill was purchased by
Greg Humphries of Christian History Society of America to get the ball rolling.

Patrick Henry Home at Red Hill, Charlotte Co., Va. Photos taken by us.

 


CLICK THIS BANNER TO SEE ALL OF THE PHOTOS OF TINKLING SPRING MEETINGHOUSE
This is Ben's very first effort in the First Church Project. It is a copy of the original Tinkling Spring Meetinghouse in Augusta County, Virginia. This church was orginally built in 1745, and was the very first organized church in America, west of the Blue Ridge mountain range.

    
CLICK THIS BANNER TO SEE ALL OF THE PHOTOS OF BELLEFONTE

The John Lewis Home, Bellefonte, on Lewis Creek in Augusta County, Virginia was the first place a sermon was ever preached west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in 1738. Click on the banner or photos to see all the photos, taken on the original property, and with the part of the house that remains to this day!

This is the first historical replica that Covenant Farm Woodworks has built solely from sketches, old photographs or historical accounts and descriptions.

The postcard in the middle is a photograph taken in 1935, just before the home was demolished. The stone section in front, without the second story, is the original Fort Lewis, later built into a home, where the first sermon was preached in the 1738. After being demolished, the stone was used to build a small outbuilding on the Lewis Homestead and the log building was bricked over, becoming the entirety of the home. The charcoal drawing at the left was drawn from an old photograph taken years before the clapboarding was added.

We will work carefully with any photos, sketches, drawings, and any historical records you have of your original church building to create the closest replica possible.


CLICK THIS BANNER TO SEE ALL OF THE PHOTOS OF WALNUT GROVE

Photo of existing house with intructions to make cedar shake roof instead of metal.

Front view of our historical replica
Back/side view of our historical replica

This is the 1751 home of Archibald Stuart, great-great-grandfather of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. It is one of the oldest buildings in the city of Waynesboro, Virginia in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This replica is an excellent example of what we can do with photos of a building as it exists now, but recreating how it would have looked when it was originally built, based on the information you supply about when additions were built.