What do you think you're doing?

Stop that!

Don't you see that says off limits?

Yeah, but I want to see inside.

I know you want to see inside, but come with me.

I'll show you inside, and you might even learn something.

And this way, you're not breaking the law.

I'm going to do it.

No, don't do it!

I'm going to do it.

Don't do it.

Okay, fine.

I'll come with you.

Great.

Thank you.

Let's go.

Watch.

Let's learn.

Welcome to Let's Learn at Fort Monroe.

Today we're inside Quarters 14, one of the oldest buildings bordering the Parade Grounds.

And today, we're going to dig into some of the history of this building and what our plans for it are at the Fort Monroe Authority.

Built in 1880 as part of that massive Army construction plan.

This was the home to many U.S.

officers, their families and chaplains for the Chapel of the Centurion.

A couple doors down.

One in particular is Ivan Bennett, who was the chaplain who stayed here and later would become the US Chief of Chaplains in the Army.

This house still retains many historical architectural features, including the floors, the bricks, the Gothic doors, the floor plan, and the shiplap siding in the back.

The rear edition wasn't added until 1908, and actually served as a servants quarters for a period of time.

Another fact is, in the backyard, a four inch and eight inch cannonball was found.

What's impressive about this house is it's not only stood the test of time, but the natural disasters that have happened in that time.

In 1975, this house caught fire.

In the early 80s, and in the early 2000s, it suffered from massive flood.

And yet it's still standing.

Now it is worse for wear, but it's still standing.

And I think that in and of itself is impressive.

After some time as an annex for the casemate Museum, we at the Fort Monroe Authority have an ongoing project to restore and rehabilitate this house.

Working with the US Department of Interior and the National Park Service so that way it can be rented by you.

Now, when you restore a historic building like this, there's a lot of really deep rules you have to follow on the preservation, rehabilitation of historic buildings.

Things like those original Gothic doors have to be restored to original, including down to the door hinges.

And it goes further than that.

The bricks and the floor, if any of that's taken out the floorboards and the individual bricks have to go back exactly where they were before.

So when this house is restored by these rules, we'll have to have everything set exactly like it was when it was originally constructed.

Retaining and restoring the original aspects and not replacing.

It's going to make it such a cool and interesting place for all of us to enjoy.

And the lucky person that gets to rent it to really have a unique home.

Thank you for watching.

Let's learn at Fort Monroe.

This has been a great time exploring one of our ongoing projects at Fort Monroe, and make sure to follow our Facebook page and subscribe to our YouTube channel so you can join me in the next one.