Andrew Scherzer:  

A family's historic homecoming By Richard Foster CONTRIBUTING WRITER Page Dowdy/Chesterfield Observer Karen (from left), Kelsey, Andy, J.T. and Caroline Scherzer in front of their new home, Trabue's Tavern Motorists driving down Old Buckingham Road this spring and summer were sure to notice all the construction workers buzzing around historic 1700s-era Trabue's Tavern. What they may not have realized, however, is that in addition to watching the restoration of a Virginia Landmark, they were witnessing a family reunion. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Trabue's Tavern (or Pleasant View, as it was also known) was a popular local tavern and the home of Revolutionary War hero Lt. John Trabue. It remained in Trabue's family for more than 200 years, from the early 1700s to 1956. Now it's back in the family. Karen Trabue Scherzer and her husband Andy won the house at auction in 2005. After a nearly yearlong renovation project that began in October 2008, the Scherzers and their three children are almost ready to call Trabue's Tavern their home. The tavern became available for sale after the previous owners, the Fishers, who ran a pewter shop out of the home, had to sell due to illness. "We scrabbled [the funding] together and bid on it because it was Karen's dream to have this back in her family and live here," says Andy Scherzer. Karen, who grew up in Roanoke, first learned of the tavern as a child in the late 1960s when her grandfather visited. He showed her photos of the tavern, telling her about its history as well as the Trabue family graveyard, which remains on the property. The tavern house stayed in her thoughts after she moved to Chesterfield in the early 1990s and started her own family. "We'd been through the pewter shop a lot because of the family [connection], and we always bought wedding gifts there, so we kind of knew the house," says Karen. "It's exciting. It's pretty neat. It's kind of scary because it was a pretty expensive decision. It was a big step to make that commitment and renovate it and get it going again." The renovation is being handled by MHC Construction of Powhatan, which specializes in historic renovations and high-end estate homes. MHC frequently works with awardwinning Richmond architect Robert Steele of BOB Architecture, but the Trabue's Tavern project was designed by Stephen Harvey of Balzer & Associates, where Andy Scherzer is a vice president. (A landscape architect by training, Andy Scherzer is planning on restoring the home's grounds to a Colonial-era appearance with indigenous plants.) "They're doing a beautiful job of restoring it," says unofficial Chesterfield County historian Bettie Weaver, author of "The Continental Training Depot and General Rendez-vous at Chesterfield Courthouse, Virginia: 1780- 1781" and other county history texts. The only criticism Weaver has about the renovation is that "the tavern's [front] porch is missing," she says. "That's the only thing I don't like about the renovation. All taverns had a porch." Aside from the porch (which the family says they may add later), the 2,800-square-foot original tavern has been faithfully restored in keeping with the regulations governing its historic status. An upstairs hall closet and radiators added in the 20th century have been removed; original materials, such as historic glass window panes, have been preserved as much as possible. On the back of the house, the family has added a new 1,500-square-foot perpendicular wing with a kitchen, dining area, family room and master bath. The airy new wing features nearly floor-to-ceiling windows flanking both walls of the kitchen. The house's original exterior siding remains as a wall of the house's new master bathroom. Weaver, for whom Bettie Weaver Elementary School is named, says that what makes the tavern especially unique among the county's historic properties is that many of its original outbuildings, such as a well house, smoke house, laundry and dairy, are still standing. Furt...Expand for more