Salona and the DuVals
[119] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book 635, p. 471; interviews
with Susan and Clive DuVal by the author.
[120] See Chapters II and IV; interviews with Clive and Susan DuVal
by the author.
[121] Nan Netherton, Donald Sweig, Janice Artemel, Patricia Hickin
and Patrick Reed, _Fairfax County, Virginia: A History_ (Fairfax,
Va.: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, 1978), p. 546.
[122] Netherton, et al., _Fairfax County_, p. 659; interview with
Clive and Susan DuVal, January 11, 1979, by Nan Netherton; DuVal
family scrapbooks, Volumes I-VII, 1944-1978, Salona.
[123] McLean _Providence Journal_, April 29, 1960; _Washington Post_,
April 23, 1961; Fairfax County _Sun-Echo_, January 15, 1965;
_Washington Star_, March 18, 1965; Fairfax County _Free Press
Newspapers_, September 29, 1966; _Globe_, May 14, 1970; Semi-Annual
meeting program, November 14, 1976; DuVal family scrapbooks, 1961 and
1963, Salona.
[124] Virginia General Assembly, _Register of the General Assembly
from 1619-1976_ (Richmond, Va.: Virginia General Assembly, 1978).
[125] Commonwealth of Virginia, _Manual of the Senate and House of
Delegates_ (Richmond, Va.: Department of Purchasing and Supply,
1978).
[126] Program, National Wildlife Federation award ceremony, March 7,
1970, DuVal family scrapbook, Salona.
[127] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book 3418, p. 686.
[128] Fairfax County, Virginia, Deed Book 4159, p. 436.
VI
SALONA: THE HOUSE AND OUTBUILDINGS
The date of construction and the name of the builder of the house
known as Salona are unknown.
There have been many changes to the mansion house, the outbuildings
and grounds through the years. The central house now has only one
wing instead of the earlier two. The large barn has been torn down;
only the substantial foundation bears witness to its size. A pile of
rubble marks the site of "the old stone house," thought by the Smoot
family to have been the oldest structure on the property. The
driveway entrance is off Buchanan Street instead of the Falls Road,
although evidence of the older driveway still exists. The rear
entrance road has been blocked by subdivision construction, although
its route remains visible across the south side of the property.
Perhaps the most decided changes are in the use of the land itself.
As McLean grew, the Salona farm shrank in area and its formerly
fertile acres were transformed into shopping centers, subdivisions,
streets and roads.
Architectural historians say that they cannot pin-point the exact
construction date of Salona, but believe it to have been between 1790
and 1810, a full twenty-year span. This belief is based in part on
examination of the types of nails used in the attic of the main
house, as well as the similarity of the "cross and Bible" door at the
north entrance to some of the doors at Sully, whose construction
began in 1793.[129] Many local sources claim that the house was built
in 1801 by William Maffitt,[130] but this supposition has not been
documented. The Smoot children were always told by their elders that
the house was started in 1790 and finished in 1801, and that Maffitt
was the builder. There was a residential structure on the land when
the 466 acres were advertised for sale in 1811.[131]
[Illustration]
Originally, the house was probably a rectangular two-story, five-bay
structure with flanking wings, which may have been frame. On the
north front, the brickwork is Flemish bond; on the other three sides
and the wing it is common bond. There are two interior end chimneys.
An elaborate bracketed cornice supports the gabled roof. This cornice
and the bracketed entrance porch with paired, squared columns show
definite Victorian influence and were probably originally added after
the Civil War. The DuVals altered the design slightly when they
renovated the house in 1952.
The most unusual feature of Salona is its wide T-shaped hall which
runs the full width of the north front of the central house, with the
main stairway rising at its west end directly across one of the front
windows. The long hall originally led to the wings on either end, but
these were apparently destroyed during the Civil War and only the
east wing was rebuilt in 1866. There is a fireplace in every room,
although most of the Federal-style mantels have been recently
installed in Salona and have come from old houses in North Carolina
and New England. There are chair rails on the walls of the living
room, dining room, and the first floor hallway. Extensive remodeling
was done by the present owners.[132] The T-shaped hall ends on the
solid wall behind the stairway on the west side, and on the east
leads directly into the post-Civil War wing which contains a small
sitting room, bathroom, and the kitchen. The smaller hall, the stem
of the T, runs perpendicular to the main hall with opposing entrance
doors at each end. The spacious living and dining rooms flank the
smaller hall, with entrances from the main hall.
[Illustration]
It is a Smoot family legend that Constantino Brumidi, the Italian
immigrant who painted many of the murals in the U. S. Capitol in
Washington, D.C., was given shelter by the Smoots, probably after the
Civil War, when he was destitute. As a token of his gratitude, he
decorated the ceilings of the living room and dining room with
flowers and fruits. No trace of these paintings now exists. However,
when the DuVals purchased Salona in 1952, there were clearly remains
of paintings on the walls and ceilings. But the plaster was in such
poor condition that it had to be completely replaced.
On the second floor, an upper hall, slightly smaller than the one
below, runs across the north front. It may once have been an open "T"
before modernization and the addition of two bathrooms by the DuVals.
To the right from the head of the stairs is the master bedroom with a
brick hearth and brick and wood mantel. The next bedroom, almost as
large, also contains a brick and wood mantel. In the east wing, the
hall leads directly into a den from which a stairway goes up to an
attic bedroom and bath, both added by the DuVals. The den also serves
as a passageway to a secondary hallway from which open two smaller
bedrooms separated by another stairway leading to the first floor
close to the kitchen. The unfinished portion of the attic is used for
storage. There is a partial basement, primarily under the east wing.
No copy of the original floor plan has been found. Records of the
Virginia Mutual Assurance Society in Richmond show that no fire
insurance was ever purchased from them on Salona, hence no floor plan
drawings are on file there.[133]
Because Maffitt died intestate, his estate was inventoried and
appraised. As a result, we know that the original house contained a
dining room furnished with a "set of three dining tables" and 24
Windsor chairs, which tends to support the tradition that the
original dining room was in the west wing, possibly occupying the
entire first floor of it.[134]
According to Smoot family legend, Salona was built entirely by
slaves, who made the brick from clay on the property. These legends
also claim that the woodwork was made by William Buckland who did the
woodwork at Gunston Hall in 1758. This seems unlikely as William
Buckland died in 1774. Smoot family legends also say that the house
was built by Maffitt, with construction starting in 1790 and ending
in 1801, and that the wings were larger than the main house.
Although the DuVals found no remnants of a west wing foundation when
they were doing extensive grading, there is visual evidence in the
brick mortar that a doorway and a window existed in the west end of
the main house. Moreover, architectural historians believe that the
placement of the kitchen and summer kitchen testify to the west
wing's existence. Furthermore, the Smoots agree that their older
relatives stated that the Yankees destroyed the west wing which was
never rebuilt.
[Illustration: _Salona entrance hall. Photo by the author, 1975._]
[Illustration: _West wall, showing evidence of a former doorway
opening. Photo by the author, 1975._]
The Outbuildings
The old stone house was an enigma which fascinated the young Smoots.
They report that the house was built around an oversized stone
chimney in its center, with four fireplaces, two back-to-back on each
floor. Downstairs was one big room, with a winding stairway at one
end leading to the second floor where there were two rooms.
Unfortunately the building was in such disrepair when the DuVals
bought the property that they later had it razed in the interests of
safety. It was located north and east of the mansion house and was
referred to by one of the Smoots as "the trappers cabin."
The old stone spring house is still standing.
[Illustration: _Stonehouse ruins, Salona. Historic American Buildings
Survey, Library of Congress, 1958._]
[Illustration: _Springhouse and barn, Salona. Historic American
Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, 1958._]
[Illustration: _Rear view of the main house, Salona. Photo by the
author, 1975._]
[Illustration: _Foundation ruins of the old barn, Salona. Photo by
the author, 1975._]
[Illustration: _Rear view of the wing, Salona. Photo by the author,
1975._]
[Illustration: _Smokehouse, Salona. Photo by the author, 1975._]
[Illustration: smokehouse]
A number of early outbuildings are still in use at Salona. Close to
the house on the south is the outdoor brick kitchen, used by the
Smoots as a "summer kitchen," now by the DuVals as a guest house.
Diagonally opposite the east wing is a former brick smoke house now
used for storage. Farther to the southeast is a board and batten
corncrib. Some distance farther east are the ruins of a large bank
barn, whose thick stone foundations testify to its former size and
sturdiness. At the west end of the house, some distance away, is an
old three-hole brick privy, once approached through a grape arbor.
The DuVals have built a tennis court on a lower level of land on the
east.[135]
[Illustration: _The outside brick kitchen, now a guest house, Salona.
Photo by the author, 1975._]
[Illustration: _PRIVY_]
[Illustration: _The old brick privy, Salona. Photo by the author,
1975._]
[Illustration: _OLD KITCHEN OUT BUILDING_]