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Built as a "modern" home in 1852 by Judge William Daniel, Jr. for his bride Elizabeth Cabell, this Greek Revival "mansion" boasted very up-to-date conveniences that included two bathing rooms and gas lite chandeliers. This was highly unusual for a house in a central Virginia city at that point in history. Another curious feature was that it was made of frame instead of brick. Most other area structures of importance were built of masonry construction and this home was sided and constructed over a tall "English" basement. The large tripartite windows add to the different nature of this home. Extremely large and what would have probably been regarded as "contemporary" at its time of construction, each features a large double hung window in the center with two smaller ones on either side. Along with the elaborate single story portico, these dominate the front facade of the home. These windows also provide the perfect vantage point to view the river below and the mountains beyond from the front of the house.
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The interior layout is rather basic with a central hall and stairwell on all three levels with two rooms and fireplaces in each on the left and right sides. The ceilings are twelve feet on the first floor, ten feet on the second floor and not quite eight feet on the basement level. The only ornamentation are the large casings that surround the exaggerated sized windows and tall doors, including a ten foot tall set of pocket doors between the two formal parlors. Each one of the twelve fireplaces featured a simple Greek style mantle. The flooring on the main two levels is wide width heart pine with the basement having a combination of local flagstone and brick floors.
Unfortunately, the years were not kind to this elegant home of the past. After being lost by its original owner, it went through a series of possessors who decreased the plot of land it sat on by selling off lots for lesser houses as well as being cut into apartments on each level. It was finally rescued by a non-profit preservation group, but not before serious structural damage had been done including the collapse of its four chimneys. They painstakingly resurrected the exterior by removing the asphalt shingles that covered the clapboard, rebuilding the chimneys, making repairs to the brick foundation, adding structural beams to stabilize the house, and removing any signs of the years of neglect as an apartment building. They then sold the property to a new owner who is restoring the structure as a single family house.
Our firm is assisting in that restoration to ensure the historic integrity is kept and any additions of modern living are done sensitively to this proud piece of Virginia's history. Please follow our blog on the preservation process.
Unfortunately, the years were not kind to this elegant home of the past. After being lost by its original owner, it went through a series of possessors who decreased the plot of land it sat on by selling off lots for lesser houses as well as being cut into apartments on each level. It was finally rescued by a non-profit preservation group, but not before serious structural damage had been done including the collapse of its four chimneys. They painstakingly resurrected the exterior by removing the asphalt shingles that covered the clapboard, rebuilding the chimneys, making repairs to the brick foundation, adding structural beams to stabilize the house, and removing any signs of the years of neglect as an apartment building. They then sold the property to a new owner who is restoring the structure as a single family house.
Our firm is assisting in that restoration to ensure the historic integrity is kept and any additions of modern living are done sensitively to this proud piece of Virginia's history. Please follow our blog on the preservation process.
