Main House |
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DONDORIC FARM's main residence faces to
the southeast with views of the Virginia countryside.
A portion of the house was built in 1829 for Frances Harrison
Horner. In 1880, there were other substantial additions made when
a frame living room and kitchen were added. Further changes were completed
by the previous owners in the 1940's at which time the
center hall with its flying staircase was constructed.
The House is stone and stucco with a metal roof. Floors
throughout are wood and the paneled doors have brass hardware.
The house has a large terrace across the southeast side onto
which numerous rooms open. The lawn is graced by mature trees,
flowering shrubs, stone walls, and gardens surrounded by American
Boxwood. To the rear are cutting beds, and a vegetable garden.
ENTRY HALL: 12' x 19'. Double doors open to the living room,
dining room and conservatory.
LIVING ROOM: 19' x 20' with an old mantle, a marble
surround and hearth, built-in bookshelves and cupboards, and
a double set of French doors to the front terrace. The floor
is random width oak.
DINING ROOM: 16' x 17' with crown molding and chair
rail, an old mantle with marble surround and hearth, hidden silver
closet, a crystal chandelier and sconces which were from the
family of Frances Scott Key. A mural of the surrounding countryside
done in the 1940's decorate the walls above the chair rail..
LIBRARY: 16' x 17' with a large stone fireplace with
brick hearth, pine paneling, built-in bookshelves and cupboards,
a double door and French doors opening onto the front terrace,
and a door to the back yard.
CONSERVATORY: 18' x 22' with a flagstone floor, a large
stone fire-place, French doors opening to the southwest yard
and onto the front lawn, built-in stone curved windows surrounding
the room on three sides with stone window benches below and stone
planters between, a beamed ceiling, and a ceiling fan.
FLOWER ROOM: 8' x 12' with windows on the south and
southwest side and numerous shelves for plants
KITCHEN: 13' x 20' with an island.
BUTLER'S PANTRY: 7' x 14' with a double sink, and built-in
glass front cupboards.
The house is four large rooms wide but only one room deep with deep set
windows opposite each other and deep set doors. The house is of stone
except for the wing, has a very large stone fireplace in the living room
and hansome, hand carved mantels. in the dining room and the parlor.
In the lawn are boxwood bushes, old-fashoned shrubs and many huge old
trees. One of the outstanding attractions of this old home is the avenue of
beautiful maples which stretch in all their glory on either side of the
half-mile of driveway between the house and the main road. There is an
extended view from the house of the mountians from the Pignut to the
Blue Ridge.
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