Menokin, National Historic Landmark in Virginia, Awarded $500,000 NEH Challenge Grant  

The Menokin Foundation announced today that the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded them a $500,000 Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grant for the Glass House Project. Menokin is one of only 22 cultural institutions in the nation receiving an infrastructure grant. 

 The 3:1 challenge – which seeks to leverage federal funds against private investment -- requires Menokin to raise $1.5 million over the next four years. These funds will ensure the stabilization of the remaining portions of the 18th century structure as a backdrop for educational programming.

“These new NEH-supported projects will help shore up the nation’s most valuable assets: its history, literature, historic sites, regional traditions, and cultural institutions,” said NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “NEH is proud to support the advancement of learning and sharing of knowledge nationwide.”  

Menokin’s Glass House Project, adopted in 2011, completes parts of the collapsed house with walls and a roof of architectural glass supported by a steel armature. The glass house structure will protect what remains of the existing ruin. Traditional restoration methods cover up evidence of the human story that historic structures present. In preserving the remains of this National Historic Landmark in an innovative way, Menokin places the emphasis on the deconstructed architectural elements of the house and the people who built it.

Menokin Executive Director, Sam McKelvey notes, “The NEH grant will have an extraordinary impact on our site and the region as we move this engaging and forward-thinking project into the national spotlight. Through research projects and visitors, Menokin will play an active role in local economic development.”