{"nrhp_refnum":"69000221","name":"Swannanoa","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of jct. of VA 610 and U.S. 250","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waynesboro","county":"Augusta County","state":"VA","lat":38.028187151000054,"lon":-78.86864246099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-10-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A white Georgia marble summer villa and its terraced gardens on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Waynesboro, spanning Augusta and Nelson counties, Virginia. It was completed by 1913 for Major James Dooley to designs by Baskerville and Noland.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the house as an important piece of eclectic architecture and an excellent example of a great Edwardian-era summer villa. It is described as one of the most complete and thoughtfully handled Gilded Age estates in Virginia. The area of significance also includes landscape, and the property is tied to a Thanksgiving visit by President Calvin Coolidge during its club years.","narrative":"Swannanoa is a white Georgia marble villa on the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Waynesboro, overlooking the Shenandoah and Rockfish valleys. Richmond architects Baskerville and Noland designed it as a summer home for railroad magnate Major James Dooley, and construction, which took several years, was finished by 1913. The design follows sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance models, recalling the Villa Medici in Rome, with a vaulted arcade between two projecting towers and open galleries at the corners. Inside, a large Tiffany stained glass window crowns the double staircase in the central hall. A terraced Italian garden, a pergola and a tall campanile-like water tower complete the grounds. After the Dooley family sold the estate in the 1920s it became an exclusive club, where President Calvin Coolidge spent a Thanksgiving. Later it served as a cultural center and museum of sculptor Walter Russell's work. It is valued as a remarkably complete Gilded Age estate in Virginia.","period_of_significance":"20th Century (specific date 1913)","architect_builder":"Baskerville and Noland (Richmond architectural firm)","architectural_style":"Sixteenth-century Italian Renaissance style, reminiscent of the Villa Medici in Rome; described as eclectic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Form lists condition as fair and the property as occupied; used as a cultural center and museum of the works of sculptor Walter Russell.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:58.19078-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/95/6796/41679695/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000221.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000221/6bd7e78c70-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000221/6bd7e78c70-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"The original uploader was Colchicine at English Wikipedia.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swannanoa_KSteele.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">The original uploader was Colchicine at English Wikipedia.</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swannanoa_KSteele.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"11000258","name":"Greenwood-Afton Rural Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/greenwood-afton-rural-historic-district-11000258/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679695","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swannanoa_(mansion)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7653620"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/augusta-county/swannanoa-69000221/"}