A new kitchen conjures images of spotless walls and gleaming floors. But that was exactly what Richard Moxley didn't want for the one he designed for Agecroft Hall.

"It looks old, and it looks dirty," Moxley said of Agecroft's new Tudor kitchen. "But it isn't."

Moxley is executive director of the 1500s Tudor manor house, and that is the era he sought to re-create.

The interior of the mansion's old two-car garage, which had housed other exhibits, was converted into the kitchen using "a mountain of trees" donated by Richmonders after Hurricane Isabel devastated the area in 2003.

The wood had to season for 3½ years before it was turned into timber framing for the kitchen - the central 18-foot-long beam that weighs 1,200 pounds came from the trunk of a red oak.

Holes were drilled into the wood to look like the work of generations of powderpost beetles. Smudges on posts are the result of "wear and tear research" to see how and where they would have been touched.

"We thought we did a pretty good job until we went to England," Moxley said. "It's got a long way to go to look 500 years old."

Agecroft was built in Lancashire, England, in the 16th century. In 1925, it was sold to Thomas C. Williams of Richmond, who had it dismantled, shipped across the Atlantic Ocean and reassembled in Windsor Farms.

The mansion, at 4305 Sulgrave Road, became a museum house in 1969.

Its new Tudor kitchen, as well as the mansion's gardens, will be open at no charge from 12:30 to 5 p.m. tomorrow 5/11for Agecroft's annual Mother's Day open house. It will be followed by a concert on the grounds at 6.

Moxley said Agecroft decided to add the exhibit because it was the top request of visitors, who would see the opulent Dining Parlour and ask "Where's the kitchen?"

"Everyone wants to see the kitchen," Moxley said.

Agecroft was not rebuilt as an exact reproduction, Moxley said, and its updated kitchen is not part of the tour.

For the new exhibit, Moxley used the plans from Agecroft's original kitchen before it was disassembled, and he also studied ancient Tudor kitchens still in use in England.

From Agecroft's plans, he was able to come up with dimensions for the kitchen's fireplace, which is set on a diagonal. The fireplace is framed by a Tudor arch made from cast concrete, "and then a lot of aging was put on it." The concrete is made to look like stones.

The wood in the fireplace looks all aglow - and it was at one time. The logs came from Moxley's own fireplace.

"I'd burn the logs until they were just nice and glowing," he said. When the fire was blazing, Moxley would pull the logs out and put them outside to cool.

They were treated to preserve them, and then Moxley's son, Ben, painted ashes on them.

Moxley said it would have been easy enough to just smoke the kitchen up to give it an aged look, "but then our visitors would get dirty."

Because no antiques are in the kitchen, there are no velvet ropes keeping visitors at a distance. But that doesn't mean the reproductions won't have an authentic feel about them.

Although some of the utensils were crafted by Richmond blacksmiths, many of the kitchen's furnishings were made in England to be as authentic as possible. The table was shipped over in pieces and assembled here, so it could be aged with scratches and burn marks.

The distinctive caldron hanging in the fireplace reflects the regional style of Lancashire. A ceramic colander and an odd-looking chafing dish were made from clay of the region as well.

The lantern covers on the wall were made from horn, Moxley said, noting the word lantern is derived from "lant horn."

Hanging in one corner are a real hare and wood pigeons from England, which were preserved by a taxidermist.

Moxley said he felt kind of bad when he saw the color of the rabbit, though. "It really looked like my cat," he said.

There's a ladder to a door in the ceiling, representing an attic loft that would have stored grain. Although there's no opening to the attic, the former garage really had a grease pit beneath it. The pit has been reinterpreted as a drainage system - be sure to take a look at what's lurking down there.

Such details will help educate visitors to Tudor life, from diet to class structure.

And this old kitchen will show people how we are still connected to the past.

"You realize that in many ways things are the same, but in other ways how different it is," Moxley said.

The hearth, for example, is still the symbol of the home that has "endured over the centuries."

"It has been for 500 years and still is today."

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or kkapsidelis@timesdispatch.com.