Tour Swannanoa - The Lost Haunted House on a HillOne example is Swannanoa, a lost but magnificent mansion on Afton Mountain, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway half-way between Staunton and Charlottesville. Nearly 100 years old, this somewhat crumbling, Italianate palace is like a neglected, poor cousin to the lovingly-kept Maymont estate in Richmond--both built by former Confederate soldier James Dooley during the Gilded Age.
Picture Maymont--an elaborate estate that has since been turned into a city park/zoo/nature preserve. Now picture Maymont as it might look today if it had been largely left to ruin the last few decades...and you have Swannanoa. A certain sadness clings to the estate, with its tattered yellow silk wallpaper walls, it cavernous rooms stripped of all furniture and adornments, its marble terraces collapsing in spots. As you peer through the paneled rooms, the dark elevator, and overgrown gardens, you try to picture the house as it might have looked when Dooley, and his wife, Sallie May, built it in 1912. Then you can't help but think of their ghosts floating through the empty, echoing halls, exclaiming in horror, "What have they done to our house?" "It reminds me of 'The Fall of the House of Usher'," said local resident Virginia Edwards, citing the infamous collapsing house in the short story by Edgar Allan Poe. Having lived on Afton Mountain since 1968, Edwards has witnessed Swannanoa's gradual decline over the years.
After James died in 1925, Sallie May lived on for two more years. She died here in 1927, supposedly in her famous swan-shaped bed, now at Maymont. Some claim the house is haunted by her ghost. After Sallie's death, the home was willed to Dooley's sisters, who then sold it. It was turned into a country club complete with an 18 hole golf course, but it closed after three years. It was then leased to a would-be scientist, sculptor, and businessman, Walter Russell. He and his wife lived there until their deaths; it was used by their followers in the University of Science and Philosophy until 1998. The current owner, James Dulaney, claims that his long-term plans are to turn the estate into a bed and breakfast. He's the leader in a consortium that has owned the property (and the neglected motel that you can see from I-64 at the crest of Afton Mountain) since 1942. But it's hard to believe that he'll ever manage to get the huge amount of funds needed to rehabilitate the place before it falls down around his ears. "It's one of those things that will just disappear," said Edwards.
In the meantime, Swannanoa is open to the public almost a dozen weekends this year. The remaining dates are the afternoons of August 7-8 and 14-15; Sept. 4-5 and 11-12; and Oct. 2-3, 9-10, and 16-17). It's also available for rent for weddings and special events (although frankly, with the cold dampness permeating its halls, I can't imagine many people wanting to spend several hours in the place). Admission is $6. It's a self-guided tour, although Delaney is generally on hand to answer questions. All in all, it's still worth seeing the place for a glimpse into the Gilded Age and a level of wealth that is long gone. Be sure to walk up the staircase past the authentic Tiffany window, then go up to the third floor. And as you take in the magnificent views of the valley from the tower windows, maybe, just maybe, you'll imagine you hear the Dooleys weeping for their lost castle on the hill. |
