Charlottesville, Virginia

The Hume Fountain, also known as the “whispering wall”, is located on the grounds of the University of Virginia, relocated from its original site in front of Monroe Hall to accommodate the building’s expansion. It consists of a small carved basin surrounded by a curving excedra set within a sunken plaza. The excedra has a bench on the interior face and inscriptions on the back faces, all made of white marble carved in the classical style.

The fountain and excedra were both in fair condition and the stone was relatively clean and intact. However, large amounts of calcite runs had deposited on the stone faces, leached out of the mortar by water running into open joints. The open joints were particularly a concern when they faced skyward, being exposed to much higher rates of weathering. Additionally, the end blocks had shifted and were no longer bonded to their supports. Small cracks and spalls had formed where these joints have moved. There was also a small loss on the capstone.

Conservation Solutions, Inc. (CSI) was contracted to clean and repair Hume Fountain as part of a larger restoration project. Calcite runs were removed with micro-air abrasion, and open joints were raked out and cleaned using a combination of hand and power tools before repointing with a type “N” mortar. The two heaved stones were lifted, cleaned of the failed mortar, and reset in their original locations. A Dutchman repair replaced the loss on one of the terminal block capstones, utilizing original stone from a discreet location which was then filled with an appropriate mortar.

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