In December, 1928, a number of distinguished guests including Vice President-elect Charles Curtis and Senator George H. Moses (President pro tem), gathered at a hill-top mansion in southeast Fairfax County.
Mount Vernon? No. Gunston Hall? No. Woodlawn? No. River Farm? No. Collingwood? No.
The glory of that day belonged to what is known today as Hollin Hall III. Harley Peyton Wilson (1873-1934) and his wife built the three-story Colonial-style structure with 18 rooms and clapboard wings, completing it in 1920.
Still purposeful as a space for weddings, receptions, parties and rehearsal dinners, the manor sits tucked away just north of Sherwood Hall Lane and next to the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church (1099 Windmill Lane). The location is about three miles south of Alexandria and about a third of a mile north of a private home known historically as Hollin Hall I, the Spinning Room and Little Hollin Hall (1901 Sherwood Hall Lane). The neighborhoods of Hollin Hall and Hollin Hills bookend Hollin Hall I and III.
Fairfax County residents know a thing or two about the Mason footprints in this part of the county. In 1760, George Mason owned 8,280 acres, more than three times George Washington’s total before the future President acquired land from William Clifton and named it “River Farm.” (Image: An Interpretive Historical Map of Fairfax County, 1760 by Beth Mitchell).
Thomson Mason, a son of George Mason, and his family lived at Hollin Hall I. Hollin Hall III sits on the site of Hollin Hall II, which burned down in the 1820’s. Mason and his family were living there (Hollin Hall II), but had to move back to Hollin Hall I after the fire.
(Note: Hollin Hall I is on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites. It has gone through a number of changes from its first iteration. The home is a private residence and can't be seen from the roads around it.)
Forgotten in these stories are the Wilsons. And that’s somewhat ironic. One can’t even see Hollin Hall I from the roads that surround it, but you can drive up the hill and see Hollin Hall III. If you get lucky like I did the other day, Amanda Casey, the Rental Events Coordinator, will treat you like a guest. You can walk the hilltop grounds, imagining the Wilson’s showing guests their English garden and the spread of land below when trees and homes did not block the views.
Northerners had been coming to Virginia for many years before the Wilsons arrived in the 1910s. Before and after the Civil War, this part of the county had been influenced by Quakers. In the 1890s, magnates from Pennsylvania had helped finance the new Washington, Alexandria, and Mount Vernon Electric Railway that ran about a half mile to the east of Hollin Hall I and the site of Hollin Hall II.
Born in New York in 1873, Harley Peyton Wilson built an impressive resume before coming to the former Mason land outside of Washington. He became “one of the foremost public utilities organizers and executives in the country.” He was also the principal owner of the Washington Rapid Transit Co. and a director in the Washington Railway & Electric Company. In 1925, when the Washington region was in the midst of putting more and more buses on the roads, Wilson purchased 97% of the WRTC stock. As pointed out by DC Preservation, “The all-bus WRTC inspired the growth of competition and encouraged expanded bus routes.”
In 1913 Wilson acquired the Hollin Hall Farm that spread across land known today as the Hollin Hall neighborhood. On that high point south of Alexandria, Wilson and his wife built their new home on or close to the site of Hollin Hall II. They stayed at Hollin Hall I until their new home was completed in 1920. In addition to the 18 room manor, they also built a guest house, carriage house and gardens.
Part of their bragging rights would have been pointing out or pointing to their proximity to the boats and steamers on the Potomac River, the electric trolley line (Belmont Station, modern day Alexandria Avenue), Mount Vernon and Woodlawn, and the road George Washington had used to get to Alexandria and points northward. On its way to becoming a major thoroughfare (Route 1), the road was beginning to hold more and more automobiles. Washington was in the midst of a boom that would take its population from 278,000 in 1900 to 437,000 in 1920. As Smith and Miller note in A Seaport Saga, “As Alexandria entered the Roaring Twenties, it basked in the sunshine of peace and relative economic prosperity."
Readers of The Washington Post first read about the Wilsons in March, 1913. Wilson had acquired the “historic Hollin Hall farm,” consisting of 300 acres. Mrs. Wilson began to show up in the Alexandria Society sections. Locals who could afford it were “motoring” to see relatives and friends, while the passages on the smoke-stacked ships still announced wealth.
Coverage of the Wilson’s hosting and activities dotted the society section of The Washington Post, The Evening Star, and The Washington Times for the next twelve years. In April 1926, William Gibbs McAdoo (1863-1941) and his family stayed a few days. His wife Eleanor was the daughter of President Woodrow Wilson. The marriage took place at the White House. Eleanor wrote two books. McAdoo’s resume included helping Wilson get elected. His reward was an appointment as Secretary of the Treasury (1913-1918). McAdoo would become Senator of California (1933-1938).
When they weren’t at home, the Wilsons traveled to New York, other esteemed summer places, and abroad. In 1928, they visited France, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland. At one point, Mrs. Wilson divided her time between Hollin Hall and the swanky new Mayflower hotel in Washington, which became known as the “Grande Dame of Washington, D.C.” She hosted a number of teas, including ones during the Virginia Historic Garden Week, as well as a Flower Show in May, 1933.
In October 1919, the Wilsons hosted Mr. and Mrs. William Cox. He served as Secretary of Commerce under the Wilson administration. Other guests were former Governor (California) Frank and Mrs. Merriam, and General and Mrs. Arthur Murray.
The Washington Post reported:
Mr. and Mrs. Wilson are living in the old “spinning house” of the estate while their new manor is being completed.
The Wilsons continued to host throughout the 1920s and hit the big time in December 1928. Entering the mansion was the Vice President-elect/Senator (Majority Leader) Charles Curtis (1860-1936), as well as Senators George Moses and Samuel Shortridge, Representative Adam Wyant and Wallace Dempsey, Justice Peyton Gordon, Judge Barley of Alexandria, and others such as Mr. Louis Hertle of Gunston Hall.
Perhaps Hertle had a moment in the sun talking about Thomson Mason, (1759-1820), who served as Justice of the Peace in Fairfax County, State Senator (1800-1804), and delegate to the General Assembly. Or maybe he pointed out that George and Martha Washington dined at Hollin Hall on March 19, 1798 and that Thomson and his wife Sarah dined at Mount Vernon on November 2, 1797.
In January, 1929, the Wilsons hit another milestone when they entertained about 250 guests. The Old Guard families in Alexandria -- the Smoots, the Leadbeaters, and others -- continued to make the society papers, but there’s no denying the Wilsons were stealing some of the show. Country seats dotted the hills around Alexandria, but the Wilson’s had their new roomy place and high connections to Washington.
The garden corps surely enjoyed the Wilson's garden. A description given in 1941 described it as:
Wonderful cultivated gardens with their backgrounds of old boxwoods, clump shrubs, rose colored arbor, marble fountain and charming flower beds all surrounded by expansive lawns.
Mrs. Wilson, who was born in Portland and grew up in Oakland, served in a number of leadership roles including President of the Fairfax Garden Club, Vice President for the Anne Lee Memorial Home of the Aged, and a member of the board of GW University Hospital. At one event at their home, fifty percent of the proceeds went to the Wakefield Memorial Association. Mrs. Wilson also donated a rare antique bowl and a silver bowl that served as prizes for winners at the Fairfax Garden Club Show in May 1931.
Although it was not the original one, “Hollin Hall” got attention in the newspapers. The Seattle Times (June 22, 1928) wrote an article titled, “Washington’s Society Seeks Outdoor Life.”
The Wilson’s entertained for the birthday anniversary of a cousin of the late Woodrow Wilson. Friends stayed at the guest house, danced in bathing suits and listened to an orchestra.
Coverage of the Wilson's was bountiful, but there was some confusion. One report in 1932 said, "Hollin Hall, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, is one of the historic places of the Old Dominion." Then again, confusion still exists today. Hollin Hall I is on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Places, but a sign outside Hollin Hall III says “Hollin Hall."
Mrs. Wilson continued to make the Society news in 1933. Then came sad news in 1934. At age 57, she had drawn her last breathe at their home. Surviving were Harley and her two sisters, Margaret Dieke and Mrs. Marcy C. Hughes, who were living at the Wilson home. Services were at Grace Episcopal Church in Alexandria and she was laid to rest at the Presbyterian Cemetery.
Harley joined her just a few months later. He had bequeathed $1,000 to the Anne Lee Home for the Aged. At his funeral, former Vice President Curtis was among the honorary pall bearers, along with Major General William Connor, Superintendent of West Point.
After the Wilsons passed away, the property did not have an occupant. Then in 1941, Merle Thorpe, a writer, advisor to FDR and former editor of the magazine, The Nation’s Business, acquired the house. The report was on the front page of the Evening Star’s Section B. It described the dwelling as having colonial brick and a green slate roof and included the guest house, a hot house, cultivated gardens and a swimming pool.
The tradition of hosting continued in May, 1947, when Dr. Esther Cuakin Brunauer of the State Department was the guest speaker there at the installation meeting of the Washington Alumnae Chapter of Delta Gamma. She was one of five women who had been selected by the Women’s National Press Club for outstanding service in 1946.
In December, 1958, the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church bought the home, the ten acres, the guest house, garage, and greenhouse. By that time, suburban homes had sprouted up nearby, including the neighborhoods of Hollin Hall and Hollin Hills. The latter offered mid-modern homes designed by Charles Goodman.
In the 1960s, mansion homes south of Alexandria such as Mount Eagle, Spring Bank, and City View gave way to the tsunami of suburban growth. Hollin Hall III might have gone down too, but the new church had come to its rescue. As told at the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church website, the congregation began to meet in the late 1950s at the main room of the guesthouse. A new church (meeting house) arose in 1985, just steps from Hollin Hall III.
The tradition of hosting continues at the century old mansion with weekend rental events, mostly weddings. We think the Wilsons would like knowing people still gather at the home they built and the place they nourished.
Note: I would like to thank Susan Hellman for her assistance in understanding the history of Hollin Hall I; Amanda Casey, Events Coordinator, Hollin Hall and the Meeting House, for showing me inside Hollin Hall III; and David Heiby, Superintendent, Presbyterian Cemetery and Columbarium, for showing me where the Wilsons were laid to rest.
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