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Page 32 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 28, 1986 / Hanuka to be celebrated in historic Norfolk home The dining room of the Moses Myers House ready for Hanuka with menora in background. Norfolk’s 194-year-old Moses Mvers House will serve as host for the Jewish Festival of Lights in December with displays and festivities reminiscent of the city’s beginnings. / Admission to the home, which was built in 1792 by Norfolk's first permanent Jewish settler, will be waived during the Han uka and Christmas seasons. Throughout the holiday sea son, cranberries, nuts, vegetables, fresh brown eggs, and potatoes will adorn the trestle table in the dining room—considered among the most beautiful in the South. Fragrant magnolia, boxwood and garden herbs will be among the trimmings. On Dec. 14 and 21, visitors who arrive between 5 and 7 p.m. will be treated to holiday candle light tours. Traditional 18th-cen tury refreshments will be served. An exquisite brass menora will be lighted for Hanuka. The Moses Myers House is one of Norfolk’s finest examples of Georgian architecture. The bricks used in its exterior were said to have been ballast for a British ship voyaging to the American colonies. Its elegant rooms are furnished with period pieces, including 70 percent of the family’s original furnishings. A New York native of Dutch descent, Myers arrived in Nor folk in 1787 with his Canadian- born wife, Eliza. Myers’ success as a ship owner,-merchant, and foreign trader produced one of the city’s wealthiest families. Active in his community, Myers served as president of city coun cil, a major in the Virginia mil itia, consul for foreign govern ments, manager of the 1817-18 Assembly Ball and superintend ent of the Bank of Richmond. In 1828 he was appointed collector of customs by John Quincy Adams. According to historical ac counts, Myers was widely noted for his home and hospitality; his guests included President James Monroe, the Marquis de Lafay ette, Daniel Webster, Stephen Decatur and Henry Clay. Peter Steward and Thomas Costa, co-authors of a recent biography entitled “The Life and Legacy of Moses Myers: Mer chant of Norfolk, Virginia,” said that the Myers family marked both the Jewish and Christian holidays. Many* family friends were of the Episcopal and Pres byterian faiths. Owned by the city of Norfolk and operated by the Chrysler Museum, the house stands as a reflection of Myers’ fruitful life. High ceilings feature decora tive plaster in low relief with deep frieze and cornice. Doors incor porate brass rim locks with iron keys, drop-ring handles and self closing hinges. Floors are of four-inch boards of native heart pine. An adjacent garden was once framed by a colonial fence of brick and wrought iron. The home was expanded by Myers from eight rooms to 15, as the couple were the parents of 12 children, nine of whom survived infancy. Family members were well- versed in music; their spinet re mains in the parlor. Some 900 pieces of original music were dis covered several years ago in one of the home’s storage rooms. In the second floor hall is a wooden instrument for playing glasses by wetting the fingers and rubbing them over the rims. Also on the second floor are a heavy iron box, which Myers had anchored to the floor with a thick iron chain, and dueling pis tols which historians believe were used in the duel between Barron and Decatur. Furnishings include Duncan Phyfe tables, Hepplewhite chairs and pieces by Chippendale and Thomas Sheraton. Family glass and silver are displayed in the dining room. Gilbert Stuart portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Myers hang in the din ing room and a Thomas Sully portrait of eldest son, John, ac cents the parlor. Myers was one of many mer chants whose fortunes rose and fell with Norfolk’s prosperity fol lowing the Revolutionary War. Prior to his appointment as col lector of customs, Myers was forced into bankruptcy as the Embargo Act of 1807 limited the finances of those who owed him debts. Five generations of the Myers family resided in the home until it was sold in the 1930s. It is open to visitors from 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Ad mission outside of the holiday season is $2 for adults and $1 for students. GRAND OPENING! SAVE 30% to 60% NOW THRU DEC. 30, 1986 Cullinane Marc Daley Harve Bernard Nancy Johnson Helene Sidel There is a style for every occasion. And at these prices you can afford more than one. Fill your wardrobe with The Timeless Allure of Italian Linen... A soft top elaborately decorated sweater compliments the softly pleated tea length skirt. You will look sensational in beautiful Red as well as dramatic Black ( s 450). 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