8-13-11 Pope-Leighy House & Woodlawn

A grey day and we are looking for something to do and maybe some things to check off. During our trips south, I had seen that there were two historic houses close to us but we hadn't stopped there yet, so that's what we did. The Woodlawn mansion just off of Hwy 1 by the Gristmill is part of Washington's properties. He gave this to his nephew and his bride. It was designed by the same person that designed the Capital building. It is a bit run down but still interesting. And it was a grey day. Sold out of the Washington line, it developed into a place where blacks were shown by the Quakers how to be farmers before the Civil War. And during the Civil War, it was an island in the South, surrounded by hostile parties.

Close by is a Frank Lloyd Wright house, called the Pope-Leighy, after the people that owned it. The story goes that the person who commissioned it (Pope) was fairly well off but FLW could bust any one's budget and was adamant about not cutting corners. Wright did agree to scale back some things but they still wound up spending much more that they thought they would. It is a very small house, only 1200 square feet. Sue thought it was claustrophobic particularly in the bedrooms, The main room was very open with lots of light (or there would have been light if it hadn't been drizzling outside). The house had been in Falls Church and was moved here when a main road project threatened it. In the picture below you can see the trademary FLW designs over the windows.

Two interesting items. Check, check.