Amherst County Historic Home Tour

On the National Historic Registry, Edgewood was built in 1818, by Arthur B. Davies. Known at the time as Arthur’s Folly, Edgewood later served as the Higginbotham Academy for girls in the 1850s as well as a meeting place for the Clinton Masonic Lodge. Judge Taylor Berry (his door plate is still on the front door) acquired the property in the later 1850s and his descendents lived in the home until the mid 1990s. The oldest section features Federal and Greek Revival technologies and style, and comprises 4,500 square feet of the 8,500 total.

Interesting interior details of the old section include nine fireplaces with complex carved mantels, a circular staircase leading from the entry hall, past the curved door room to the third floor landing, and perhaps the most striking of all, a three-wall mural in the drawing room done by an itinerant painter around 1830. The mural’s vivid Indo-Chinese style scenes including tiger hunts, ladies on elephants and men picking oranges, were discovered in the 1970s when layers of the wallpaper were removed. They were featured in the magazine, Antiques, in March 1984. The 1972 addition features a sunken marble pool resembling a Roman bath.

The Troy-Hill House at 154 Garland Avenue was built circa 1885 by P.M. and Lucy C. Christian. Originally it was a two room over two room, Victorian house with a central chimney, two cross gables and a decorative slate roof. The main door originally faced west.

The Christians sold the newly built house in 1890 to Thaddeus O. Troy, a railroad official locally known as Captain Troy. His family lived in the house from 1890 to 1892, sold it, and again bought the house in 1901 and occupied it until 1912. Around this period the two-story rear addition was erected and the house remodeled. The new addition changed the main entry from the west to the north, facing Garland Avenue.

Of particular interest to visitors is an Oriental porcelain bowl that had belonged to Lord Jeffery Amherst, purchased by Mrs. Malchow at auction.

The W. Ward Hill family occupied the house from 1921 until Annie’s (Ward’s wife) death in 1971. W. Ward Hill was the founder of Hill Hardware. Several owners have occupied the house and the house was divided into apartments for a time. Current owners Pat Malchow and Kevin McGann are working to restore the nineteenth century beauty of the house.

The Amherst Presbyterian congregation was first organized May 26, 1831. Sessions met in an open field adjacent to the courthouse or at the Episcopal Church in New Glasgow (Clifford).

On August 12, 1878 a deed was recorded in which Robert M. Brown donated the property on 2nd Street for the church and a brick edifice was erected which "was perfect in its proportions and modeled after many churches in Northern Italy."

The first major remodeling of the church started in 1917 and included stained glass memorial windows, new pews and a furnace. The pulpit came from the Waynesboro Presbyterian Church and the memorial windows from St. Louis. The church was remodeled in 1938 and the basement rooms were completed in 1944 to be used for Sunday School and family meals. In later years other changes were made, notably the education annex in 1956. In 1961 the church was again remodeled and the sanctuary repainted. During the 1970s the basement rooms, by then in disuse, were repainted and freshened up for the use of the church youth.

Bishop John Johns consecrated the new brick church as Ascension Church in 1848. The Reverend David Caldwell became the first rector. Five determined men were inspired to have the church built: Dr. Henry Landon Davies, Mr. Marshall Harris, Capt. William Waller, Mr. Ben Taliaferro and Zachary Tinsley. The land had been donated by Mr. Elijah Fletcher and the widowed Mrs. David Garland also contributed substantially. Rev. David Caldwell was the son-in-law of William Waller and the grandson-in-law of Jane Meredith Garland (David Shepherd Garland's wife).

The contractor and builder was Hickman Meredith. The one story, gable roof, gable end in front with a later Gothic-revival central square, three story tower has had several additions over the years. In 1853 Elijah Fletcher donated the bell that is still in use. In 1875 the church was enlarged to include a recess chancel, organ chamber, baptistry and vestry room. In 1892, the six stained glass windows were installed. Notable features are the rose window and pointed arch windows in the tower, which is a local landmark. 1922 saw the addition of the parish house. Over the past century and a half devoted parishioners have memorialized their fellow parishioners with gifts of altar and chancel linens, communion service and rail, lectern, pulpit and lectern, chandeliers and chairs. Further information can be found on tablets within the sanctuary.

Lindsay Coleman, a son of George Coleman, erected the Flora Banks House after 1818. The Coleman family deeded land for the Amherst Court House. Flora Banks, then a farmhouse, was a one and a half story structure with gable end chimneys. The wooden floors in the entrance hall and upstairs are of wide wood planking while most of the remaining first floor is planked with narrow planks.

The house originally stood on a 378 acre farm. In time the farm was named Glenway Farm and was known for its purebred Aberdeen-Angus cattle.

The Cunningham and Gannaway families made most of the alterations to the house, including raising the house to two stories and connecting the out-kitchen to the main house. Later in the 1950s a wrap-around porch was added to the kitchen area.

The interior of the house retains its modest decoration with molding and things consistent of the time. Rebecca and Hoyt Stewart have modernized the dwelling and added their touch to this fine old house with its beautifully extensive landscaping and gardens.

Mrs. and Mrs. William Hall built this lovely home in 1971 after his retirement. Mrs. Hall, nee Katherine North, was originally from Amherst County. They had lived many years in Atlanta, Ga. After Mrs. Hall's death in 2001, Lillian and Frank T. Burks, Jr. bought the house.

The house has living room, dining room, kitchen, den, three bedrooms and four baths. The Burks’ have added particularly attractive millwork to the living room - dining room combination.

There is a courtyard off the back patio leading to an azalea garden, sprinkled with spring bulbs.  The garden is enclosed within a brick wall, providing a private setting for quiet enjoyment of the flora. The front of the property faces west and features an expansive panoramic view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The house is carefully appointed with traditional furnishings and family pieces. Of particular interest in Mr. Burks’ collection of clocks.

Built in 1998 by the current owners, this rambling story and a half home features three bedrooms and six baths (3 full/3 half) in over 4500 square feet of living area. The Kilgores have been involved in the building and remodeling of many homes and investment properties over the past 25 years and drew on that experience in the construction and appointment of their first home they built for themselves. Doorways have wide transoms allowing much light to pass through. The doorways and windows are trimmed with wide fluted casing with rosettes on the corners reminiscent of a 1920’s farmhouse they once renovated. Windy Ridge contains a number of other features inspired by the various county homes the Kilgores visit in their real estate business. The entertainment room in the basement features a wall of Amherst County memorabilia.

The home is furnished with antiques from Mr. Kilgore’s great-grandparents’ home, Snugdale, in Nelson County and the Amherst home of his grandfather, Judge William Edward Meeks. A grand cherry corner china cabinet was hand built by his paternal great grandfather, Joseph W. Hunnicutt, of Norton, Va. Other furnishings are from his father’s Amherst law office and from their own collecting.

Situated in a clearing on a wooded ridge of 27 acres, the home affords a wonderful view of Mount Pleasant and the Sleeping Giant mountain range of the Amherst County Blue Ridge. It is well landscaped and is terraced by mountain stone walls and features an in-ground pool in the rear of the home. There is a fishing lake tucked away in the hollow behind the house.

Drive by points of interest: