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A mix of fabrics, textures and patterns in the same blue hue create a sumptuous and cozy sitting area. Schumacher’s blue Dandridge Damask fabric was inspired by a silk gown that belonged to Martha Dandridge Custis Washington.
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Designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas in front of the circa-1695 Nelson-Galt House in Colonial Williamsburg
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The Hepplewhite bed and arched tester wear custom bedding made by Chadduck’s sister, Beth Chadduck Aaron. The antique chest is on loan from TK Asian Antiquities in Williamsburg.
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H.J. Holtz & Son of Richmond installed the Kensington Whitework mural wallpaper, which was inspired by a pair of late 17th-century whitework curtains embroidered in the chinoiserie style in Colonial Williamsburg’s collection.
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Simple flat-panel cabinets and brass furniture pulls give the kitchen a traditional vibe. The counter is Alberene soapstone quarried in Schuyler.
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The Schumacher fabrics used to fabricate the custom bedding include Quilted Scroll Matelasse in ivory, Crawford Check in flax and Montecito Medallion in neutral.
Thoughtful details at every turn add elegance without fussiness. Original wood floors topped with textured natural-fiber rugs, sofas and chairs with classic lines covered with luxe fabrics, decorative wallpapers, and a rich, new color palette bring a fresh energy to the circa-1695 Nelson-Galt House, the oldest dwelling in Colonial Williamsburg.
“I think a big part of Southern style is being honest to the history of the house but also making it warm and comfortable and inviting with textures, layers and personal collections,” says Heather Chadduck Hillegas, who led the home’s recent renovation as Williamsburg’s second designer-in-residence. A former style director for Southern Living magazine, the Virginia native — now based in Birmingham, Alabama — was recognized as a “Next Legend” of interior decoration by Veranda magazine in 2021.
Raised outside Martinsville in a home on the National Register of Historic Places, Hillegas learned to appreciate architectural detail from her father, who worked on several house projects in Colonial Williamsburg as a young adult and later built his daughter a beautiful dollhouse — complete with Chippendale railings and a cedar shake roof.
“I feel like I’m somewhat of a steward to Virginia,” Hillegas says. “The experience and knowledge [I have] helped me understand what happened in this house. I think there’s something wonderful about being connected to this home that’s part of the largest living history museum in our country.”
Hillegas is connected to the home not only as a decorator but as a part-time occupant. While her thriving business doesn’t allow full-time residency, Hillegas and her husband stayed in the house from Thanksgiving to the new year and plan to return, as evidenced by the dog bowls in the kitchen.
“The house is such a special place to spend time in,” she says. “And then you walk out the door, and everywhere you look there are these beautiful and wonderfully maintained and curated pieces of Colonial architecture.”
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The formality of the room is tempered by hand-painted crosshatching below the chair rail, box-pleated skirts on the traditional ladder-back chairs and graphic rug. The reproduction sideboard is on loan from The Shops at Carolina Furniture of Williamsburg.
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Hillegas gave the Chippendale sofa an updated look by railroading the fabric, running the ticking-stripe fabric horizontally.
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The 1820 tall case clock is a Chadduck family heirloom loaned by the designer’s father.
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Queen Anne chairs take on a contemporary attitude when skirted in Schumacher’s graphic Bodhi Tree print. The bookcase-top secretary desk is on loan from TK Asian Antiquities.
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Dressmaker details like the scalloped skirt on this antique settee can be found throughout the house, enhancing window treatments, walls and upholstery in every room, including the baths.
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Hillegas created a welcoming cocoon of blue and white by using this Schumacher chintz on the upholstery, bedding and walls, which are trimmed in blue woven silk gimp. The woodwork and fireplace surround are painted Benjamin Moore Chiswell Blue.
“It’s important to us that the [designer-in-residence] has a love and understanding of what we’re doing,” says Kiri Franco, director of Williamsburg brands. “Heather is connected to the Colonial Williamsburg legacy and really understands that we want to show everyone how you can live like this in your own home.”
Formal meets fun in the living room. An English bullseye mirror circa 1810, on loan from Justin Westbrook Antiques in Richmond, reflects the soft but vibrant green color scheme with black accents in unexpected places. Instead of traditional swags for the windows, Hillegas and Grant Trick fashioned lambrequins with a folded ombre trim.
“I thought [the window treatments] needed to be really dramatic,” she says. “We designed them so the way they scoop down at the sides, they’re almost integrated with the wainscoting. The trim was a way to make the outline a little more dramatic. Black accents in the room make it more modern.”
The annex bedroom is done in Benjamin Moore Palace Green: walls, ceiling and trim. A sisal rug’s large weave softens the drama of the Mopboard Black baseboards. Custom plaid bed hangings on the mahogany Hepplewhite bed are paired with an equestrian print fabric.
Rustic meets refined in the dining room. Mahogany and antique pine furnishings are offset by the verdant scene on the walls, which are covered with a panoramic wallpaper mural, Regency Views by Paul Montgomery. The room is finished with rough linen drapes that are plain but for a tassel trim.
“There’s so much action and detail in the mural that I didn’t want to put another print next to it,” Hillegas says. “I wanted an embellishment [on the curtains] that was a complement, not competition.”
In the primary bedroom, Benjamin Moore’s Harwood Putty on the walls and York Gray trim — coupled with a custom stripe dhurrie rug in brown and cream — create a soothing atmosphere. The bed is resplendent in custom bed hangings fabricated by Hillegas’ sister, Beth Chadduck Aaron.
A sunroom, in the hyphen connecting the original house with a reconstructed outbuilding that was the original kitchen, goes far beyond a passageway with an antique writing table for a workspace, made elegant with a pair of pineapple lamps from the designer’s personal collection. The Chippendale sofa opposite is slipcovered in a ticking stripe. “We put a stripe on it but railroaded it so it ran horizontally,” she says. “That gives it a totally updated look.”
Hillegas says it has been a delight to be the designer-in-residence.
“It was truly decorating,” she says. “For so many projects where the home is brand new, we have to think about what can we bring in to make it look old — vintage lighting, antique floors? All those things that create patina and texture were already in this house. The mix of the old and the new is what makes it alluring.”
The Nelson-Galt Designer House will be open for tours on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14; Independence Day, Tuesday, July 4; and Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4.
