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The new Woodlawn site, while similar to the Falls Church location in being wooded, has differences; the original orientation was east-west, not the present north-south. The recent restoration, however, allows the house to be approached as it was originally, from below. The original interior cypress has been maintained along with most fixtures and furniture. The brick is a replacement, and although the house still has a radiantheated floor (not the original concrete pad!), it also has 1990s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. The Pope-Leighey House was one of Wright’s first Usonian designs, and can be immediately recognized as such through its distinct style. Wright used the architectural elements of compression and release, cantilevered roofs, and the large windows that let the outside in, and used cypress boards that were inexpensive and easy to source because the Florida Everglades were being drained at the time.
Woodlawn Manor
Dirt, dust, and debris were caked on its surface, and its raised grain suggested past pressure-washing treatments. The hallway is compressed to save space, and the clerestory windows provide ventilation. That Frank Lloyd Wright—the architect behind Fallingwater, a grand house built over a waterfall in southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as the soaring Guggenheim Museum in New York—would design a house on such a modest budget might surprise some. Wright made adjustments after his original design went well over the Popes’ budget, and construction finally began on July 18, 1940. The board-and-batten walls, bookcases, and ribbon of clerestory windows emphasize horizontality. Woodlawn Plantation overlooks the Potomac River on lands first inhabited by the Algonquin-speaking Doeg people.
Tours
Visitors enjoy tours by the National Trust, which exhibits thought-provoking contemporary art in the Usonian home.[63] No doubt Marjorie Leighey would delight in hearing that her beloved home lives on to influence new generations. “The day we left,” Loren Pope confessed, “I sat on the fireplace hob and wept."[32] The Leigheys moved in February 1947. It was also in the ‘30s that two such average Americans would spark an exceptional chain of events in the national capital region. The name Frank Lloyd Wright may bring to mind New York City’s Guggenheim Museum, residences in Chicago, the Midwest, and deserts of Arizona. He built iconic modern structures all over the country; even Northern Virginia can boast a unique connection to the renowned American architect.
WOODLAWN MANSION UNDERWOOD ROOM FLOOD RESTORATION PROJECT IN PHOTOGRAPHS JANUARY, 2018
The plantation was worked by approximately 90 enslaved women, men, and children. We are in the process of researching the history of the people enslaved at Woodlawn and uncovering and sharing the stories of those who helped build and maintain this historic property. The house is in the shape of an L, a technique Wright often used to incorporate an outdoor garden space. In one wing, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom, and in the other, there is a space which functions as a living room, a dining area, and a library. The height of the living room space is 11.5 feet (3.5 m).[4] The house is one story, but it has two levels to accommodate the natural slope of the land.
Tour Information
Our programs, events, and interpretation foster racial justice, promote sustainable practices, nurture wellbeing, and contribute to community repair. Facilities and Capacity Couples can easily invite up to 250 guests, more if additional tenting is arraned - there is plenty of land for additional amenities. The Woodlawn spaces offer both indoor tented and uncovered outdoor options that you can choose from. Services Offered The Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House staff, in collaboration with the choice of two top quality DC-area caterers, Design Cuisine and Main Event Caterers, can help plan and host your ceremony and reception. This is a Frank Lloyd Wright design fan page inspired to showcase the famed architect's designs.
George Washington's Distillery
The most accessible of Wright's three surviving Virginia buildings, the Pope-Leighey House is one of his best-known Usonian houses. It was designed and built for Loren and Charlotte Pope and for a site in Falls Church; they sold it in 1947 to Robert and Marjorie Leighey. The construction of I-66 threatened the house, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation acquired it and moved it to Woodlawn Plantation.
Woodlawn works to remember all who have lived on the historic site - Fairfaxtimes.com
Woodlawn works to remember all who have lived on the historic site.
Posted: Fri, 26 Apr 2024 04:00:00 GMT [source]
This photo essay documents the restoration with a detailed look at some of the challenges and solutions to preserving this historic home for a long time to come. Not all preservation work is as straightforward as maintaining a building exactly where it stands. Sometimes it requires a bit of creativity and an acknowledgement that the work is ongoing and ever changing. It was not long before word of the threatened Wright masterpiece reached the National Park Service, National Trust for Historic Preservation, American Institute of Architects, and even Department of Interior Secretary Stewart Udall.
The Pope-Leighey House remains to this day a historic property and a hallmark for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian vision. Woodlawn Plantation overlooks the Potomac River on lands first inhabited by the Algonkian-speaking Doeg people. The land was later part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon and was a wedding gift for his step-granddaughter, Nelly Parke Custis, and her husband Lawrence Lewis, Washington’s nephew.
Woodlawn Manor and Pope-Leighey House (U.S - National Park Service
Woodlawn Manor and Pope-Leighey House (U.S.
Posted: Tue, 01 Aug 2017 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The National Trust has preserved the house as it was intended to be lived in, complete with original decor and furniture, so visitors to the house today can see Wright's Usonian vision. This hand-sewn petticoat with fine embroidered detail is attributed to an enslaved seamstress named Sarah, from Charleston, SC. Objects like this convey the level of skill and craftsmanship that enslaved workers produced for their enslavers. 1840, Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. “It’s been jimmied with a lot, but I think that’s part of its preservation story,” says Wilson. On July 30, 1964, Marjorie Leighey formally transferred the house to the National Trust, retaining the right to live there for the rest of her life.
One is a working farm, one is a mansion built in 1805 and gifted to Nelly Custis and Lawrence Lewis by none other than the first president of the United States, George Washington. The land is known as Woodlawn, and was originally part of a large plot of land owned by George Washington. But I’m a visitor at Pope-Leighey House, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Usonian house in Alexandria, Virginia, and like any good guest, I do as I’m told. During the initial research into new and appropriate roof materials—including Wright's original construction specifications—the design team came across Frank Lloyd Wright's proprietary roofing mixture which he called “wearcoat”. This same mixture of cement, sand, fiberglass, and asphalt was also used in the construction of other similar Usonian homes, though it reportedly failed quickly.
At this historic site, we are dedicated to filling in the gaps of our site's cultural heritage, especially the stories of enslaved people as well as free Black communities and their descendants. We are home to two iconic properties and a working farm, all set on 126 historic acres in Alexandria, Virginia. Woodlawn, built in 1805, was gifted to Nelly Custis and Lawrence Lewis by George Washington. Woodlawn operated as a plantation where the couple enslaved over 90 men, women, and children of African descent.
This site is not affiliated with any official Frank Lloyd Wright organizations/properties or the trust/non-profits that operate them. In the meantime, Oak Grove Restoration, based in Laytonsville, Maryland, inserted Dutchmen (narrow wood slivers) into gaps where the wood was cracked or damaged, which helped to stabilize the siding. Still, the exterior wood—tidewater red cypress that Wright chose for its durability, density, consistent color, and termite-resistant oils—is almost all original. On the short walk from the front door to the living room, I pass a set of closet doors, and later a wall of cabinets in the small hallway outside the bath. Their hinges are barely visible, and the entryway closets don’t have doorknobs, so they blend in with the walls. The new low profile copper drip edge flashing compared with the original (oxidized) copper gravel stop.
The historical core of the site also now boasts a modern demonstration and educational farm powered by partner Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food & Agriculture (who also operate a working farm on another area of the property). In 1846, a group of anti-slavery Quaker families from the north purchased the property and sold off parcels of Woodlawn’s land to free Black and other anti-slavery farmers who set up homesteads on the land. Woodlawn became an example of successful free-labor agriculture in a region that was dependent on enslaved labor. Subsequent owners of Woodlawn, helped to preserve the house into the twentieth century. In the past years, preservation work at the Pope-Leighey House was focused on the exterior cypress.
A pilot conservation program was completed that studied the options for creating the best methodologies to clean and protect the exterior siding. Should the wood look weathered or should it be maintained to reflect how it looked when it was built? The original construction specifications treated the interior and exterior wood the same, creating a surface that looked continuous. The Pope-Leighey House and Woodlawn Estate are sites of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. (Woodlawn was part of George Washington’s Mount Vernon.) The Leighey House was moved to the site due to the expansion of Highway 66.
We partner to play a central role in the region regarding ancestors of the site and the thread through to current descendants and their communities, and connections to other sites in Louisiana and other points along with the slave trade and underground railroad. To learn more about the window restoration project, read Restored Woodlawn Windows Ready for Another 100 Years by National Trust architect Ashley Wilson and Victorian Homes Magazine’s story on the project. Over the years, exposure to the weather has caused the softer early wood of the cypress to deteriorate more rapidly than the harder late wood. This creates a slightly uneven surface and UV exposure has also caused the cypress to gray.
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