Swannanoa is an Italian Renaissance Revival villa built in 1912 by millionaire and philanthropist James H. Dooley (1841–1922) above Rockfish Gap on the border of northern Nelson County and Augusta County, Virginia, in the USA. It is partially based on buildings in the Villa Medici, Rome.
Rockfish Gap is the southern end of the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park and the northern terminus of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
It is located on the crest of the Blue Ridge mountains, overlooking both Shenandoah and Rockfish valleys. It is located on a jurisdictional border, so it is in both Augusta and Nelson counties.[
(Wikipedia)
Intended to be a "summer place" for Richmond, Virginia, millionaire and philanthropist James H. Dooley and his wife Sally May, it reportedly took over 300 artisans eight years to build the structure, complete with Georgian marble, Tiffany windows, gold plumbing fixtures, and terraced gardens. Built as a token of love from husband to wife, the depth of James and Sally May’s relationship was represented in the 4,000 piece Tiffany stained-glass window and a domed ceiling bearing the likeness of Mrs. Dooley [4] Despite the lavish expenditure, it was occupied only for a few years following completion in 1912.[5]
(Wikipedia)
Major Dooley died in 1924 at the age of 82. He left Swannanoa entirely to his wife, Sally Mae, along with several million dollars. Sally Mae Dooley died in 1926 at the age of 79. She left the estate to Major Dooley's two sisters.
When the property was built it had state-of-the-art fixtures for the time. Electricity and plumbing were installed in the house. It was the first house to have electricity in Nelson Countyand to accomplish this it had its own power plant on the property. There also was a built in elevator. Like Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's house 27 miles away, it had a dumbwaiterto bring food up from the basement kitchen to the dining room on the first floor.
This marvelous mantle piece greets guests as they enter the house.
The rugs in the front of the house display this design.
There are not a lot of stained glass windows in the house but this one grabs your attention as you first enter. I later learned the figure in the glass is James Dooley's wife - Sally May.
Medi stands at the back of the house, already impressed by her tour of the residence.
I loved the geometric shape the roof tiles displayed.
Here again, the pattern caught my eye.
There was a lot of attention paid to beauty in this enclosed garden path.
The shadows played on the pillars.
The walkway even had a picture of nature at the end.
This staircase like a good part of the house shows the disrepair that came to the mansion.
Medi climbed up to get a better view of the gardens and trees surrounding the house.
It was worth the climb. Can you see the observation tower behind her?
A splash of Fall .
