Lanesville Architecture

The earliest parts of the Lanesville House, built in 1779, included a single-room house two stories high with a loft, consisting of what is now the east parlor and the rooms directly above on the second and third floors, while the single-story kitchen stood as a separate building. The east parlor chimney and kitchen chimney were constructed of large stones in patterns of red and tan, with the stones becoming smaller as the chimneys rose taller, and their tops were made of bricks built on-site; this stone pattern was considered fashionable in the 1770s. By 1800, the main house had doubled in size, with two parlors on the first floor, two bedrooms on the second floor, and two loft rooms in the attic, while the kitchen remained separate. Chimney styles had changed by the time the second parlor was built, only ten to twenty years after the first two chimneys. In the 1870s, building activity continued with the addition of rooms joining the front parlors to the kitchen, remodeling of the parlors, and the addition of the front porch and double front doors. Connecting the parlors to the kitchen changed the roofline on the back of the house and expanded the attic rooms into full-sized bedrooms. The second front door symbolized prominence in the community, with one parlor and entrance used for the family and the second set for special guests. In the 1880s, the kitchen was expanded to two stories, and in the early 1900s it was enlarged slightly again as the pantry, back stairs, and porches were added. In 2003, a handicapped ramp was added to allow access into the house for all visitors.

Sterling, Virginia · United States