Architectural Tour
Welcome to Dodona Manor
We suggest that you sit on the front porch and begin by reading this history of the house and explanation of its architectural style. From there, you may walk around the house to look at specific architectural features.
This property was called Dodona Manor before the Marshalls purchased it. “Dodona” is pronounced “duh-doh-nuh,” with the accent on the second syllable. The property once had many oak trees that kept their dry leaves until spring, and the winter wind rustled through them. That was comparable to the Temple of Dodona in ancient Greece. The Greeks believed that the voice of Zeus could be heard in the rustling of the leaves in oak trees at the Temple of Dodona, which is a tourist site today. The Oracle of Dodona interpreted the meaning of Zeus’ words.
George and Katherine Marshall purchased Dodona Manor for $16,000 in 1941 while they were living in the Army Chief of Staff’s residence at Fort Myer, Virginia. During World War II, Dodona Manor was a welcome respite from the pressures of his duties. He loved to come here to do landscaping, work in his large vegetable garden and paint and repair the property’s buildings.
After Marshall retired from the Army in November 1945, the house became their primary residence. While he was fulfilling his many postwar obligations, they continued to live here and at their second home in Pinehurst, North Carolina in the winter months.
Ownership History
1805 – John Drish purchases eight acres from the estate of George Carter for $960.
1826 – John Drish sells the property and the house that he had built to his son, Wilson Drish.
1829 – Wilson Drish and Eleanor Drish sell to Fayette Ball for $3,000.
1855 – George Washington Ball and Mary Ball sell the eight acres and a “large brick dwelling house” to Amelia Young, a slaveholding farmer’s widow, for $4,000.
1856 – Amelia sells “Oak Hill” to Rev. Charles Nourse, Principal of Leesburg Academy, for $5,250. The large increase in the price in one year suggests that there was new construction. Nourse advertises the property for sale in 1859, when it includes a 16-room house and “good cellars” with carriage house, icehouse and meat house.
1866 – Charles and Elizabeth Nourse sell to Sophia Delany for $8,000.
1878 – Delany trustees sell to Joseph Prather for $10,000.
1888 – Joseph and Martha Prather sell four acres to Wallace George for $7,600.
1907 – Wallace and Sally George sell the land and “brick mansion” to Yvon Pike for $6,000.
1935 – Pike heirs sell to Northcutt Ely.
1941 – Elys sell to George and Katherine Marshall for $16,000.
1960 – Katherine Marshall deeds the property to her daughter, Molly Winn.
1995 – Molly and James Winn sell to the George C. Marshall Home Preservation Fund. The Fund spent approximately $9.5 million on the property, with $6 million spent on the purchase and restoration of the home, and an additional $3.5 million for the purchase of surrounding properties to protect the property from encroachment by possible commercial establishments.
2005 – The house opens as a museum and the home of the George C. Marshall International Center.
Construction History – First Stage
The first stage of Dodona Manor was built around 1805 by John Drish, who built several other houses in Leesburg that are still in the historic district.
It was a two-story brick dwelling that included what are now the library, powder room, and bathroom on the first floor and the Marshalls’ bedrooms on the second floor. The powder room was also used as General Marshall’s office but was commonly called the powder room as it included a vanity.
The blue area in the diagram shows the original circa 1805 dwelling.
Construction History – Second Stage
The second stage of the house was built between 1826 and 1829. It was a two-story structure built in the Federal style and encompassed what is now the living room, dining room, and entrance hall on the first floor and the guest bedroom and Haub Exhibit Room on the second floor.
The Federal style addition (second stage) of two levels is shown by the blue area in the diagram.
Construction History – Third Stage
The third stage was built in 1855 to accommodate students in the Leesburg Academy. It encapsulated the first stage and added a third floor with two bedrooms over the first stage. It also included new north hallways on the first and second floors.
The service ell (a wing of a building that lies perpendicular to the main massing and includes housing for staff) includes the breakfast room, kitchen, and laundry room on the first floor and what were servants’ quarters on the second floor.
The blue area in the diagram shows the north hall and third-floor additions to the original circa 1805 dwelling and the service ell in the rear.
Federal Style Architecture
The main part of Dodona Manor (second stage) is an example of Federal style architecture. The Federal style was prominent in architecture from approximately 1780 to 1840, and it evolved from the Georgian style, which had been the main design of the colonial period. The Federal style was less decorative than Georgian and often included symbols like the eagle. It gets its name, “Federal,” from the period in American history when our federal system of government was being developed and refined.
Typically, a Federal style building was a simple square or rectangular box of two or three stories with a central hallway for ventilation. The style also demonstrated balance and symmetry, with windows in strict horizontal and vertical alignment, geometrical designs and an elaborate front door with an elliptical fanlight above the door, usually with flanking sidelights. They were typically built of wood clapboard or brick, and often had a centered roof gable. Dodona Manor has somewhat more detail and is perhaps higher style than the average Federal style home would have been.
Front Porch, 1907
A Victorian era porch extended across the entire front façade of the house at the beginning of the Pike residency in the early 1900s.
Front Porch, 1920s
The Pike family shortened the porch, added Ionic columns, and built a balustrade (the railing above the porch’s roofline) above the porch to update the house to the more modern tastes of the Colonial Revival style.
Dodona Manor Before Restoration, 1995
This is the southern view of the house from East Market Street before the restoration began in 1995.
During Restoration, 2000
This photograph was taken during the restoration in 1998. The restoration also included paint analysis and application of the house’s current color of yellow to conform to what preservationists determined to be the Marshall-era exterior paint color.
To begin your examination of architectural features, walk away from the front door and face the house.
Detail of Federal Cornice
This is a detail photo of the cornice of the Federal addition of Dodona Manor. You will notice the classical style geometric designs, dentils, and beveled modillions.
The Marshalls’ Front Porch
When the Marshalls lived here, the porch was similar to that of the second Pike porch but with fluted Doric columns and pilasters. The Ely family removed the balustrade (the railing above the porch’s roof line).
The arrow in the photograph points to dentils in the cornice, which are small, repeating ornaments that look like teeth.
Federal-style Window with Decorative Lintel
A lintel is a horizontal support of timber, stone, concrete, or steel across the top of a door or window. It has a central, wedge-shaped block called a keystone, providing structural support as the keystone bears the weight above it.
However, the wooden keystone above this window on Dodona Manor was mainly decorative and provided no structural support.
Flemish and American Brick Patterns
The drainpipe to the left of the front porch shows where the Federal block (right) and the 1850s addition (left) were joined.
The 1820s Federal brick pattern (right) is called Flemish bond. Each brick course (layer) consists of headers and stretchers laid alternatively. A header is a brick laid so that only its short face is visible. A stretcher consists of bricks laid so that only their long face is visible. A header is flanked on all sides, above and below, by stretchers.
The 1855 brick pattern (left) is called five-course American bond. Every fifth course consists of headers, and the other courses consist of stretchers.
Jack Arch on 1850s Windows
This window in the 1850s addition has a jack arch (indicated by the arrow) in a soldier’s course pattern. A jack arch is structurally significant and bears the weight of the brick courses above it instead of the window bearing the weight.
In a soldier’s course pattern, bricks are laid on end, i.e., positioned vertically with their stretcher side showing on the wall surface.
Exterior of the Federal Block
This is an example of an ellipse window (upper arrow), which is decorative, semicircular in shape and stands alone, usually under a gable roof. It is one of the character-defining elements of the Federal style.
The Palladian window (lower arrow) consists of a central arched section flanked by two narrow rectangular sections.
Front Door
Tuscan columns flank the wood-paneled door, a common sight in many Federal style homes. A wooden arch and faux keystone are above the door.
The recessed window above the door is called a fanlight. The recessed, narrow windows on the sides of the door are sidelights.
Proceed to the right to the south side of the house.
Bay Windows on South Exterior
By the time of the restoration of the house in the 1990s, the original bay window tower had separated from the structure and had to be rebuilt using most of the original bricks.
The arrow points to a decorative brick belt course.
Stone Court
The Marshalls added this Stone Court in 1945. It was the only architectural change that they made to Dodona Manor. An extended roofline protected them from the sun.
The Marshalls loved being outdoors, and they used the Stone Court for breakfasts, lunches, and drinks in the afternoon. It was also the site for conversations that Marshall held with national leaders. When President Harry S. Truman came to Dodona Manor on July 4, 1950 to ask George Marshall to become Secretary of Defense, it is likely that they sat here. Marshall later told a friend, “When the President sits under your oak trees and tells you his problems, he has you at a disadvantage.”
Although it’s out of place, the second-floor window without shutters on the left of the service ell was without shutters during the Marshalls’ time as well.
South Side Exterior
The Federal-style wood cornice on the left is more elaborate than the brick pattern on the 1850s wing on the right. (Look for this above the Stone Court.)
Follow the brick path around to the rear of the house to the north exterior.
North Exterior
The two lower rows of windows were in the original (circa 1805) part of the house, and the upper row of windows was added in the 1850s.
The glass-enclosed patio is known as an orangerie.
Orangerie
Wealthy homeowners sometimes built an orangerie to grow tropical plants (often oranges) in colder climates.
This orangerie was added to the 1850s wing of Dodona Manor sometime in the late 19th century.
We believe that the Marshalls used their orangerie as a sunroom for relaxation when it was too cool to sit on the Stone Court. We have no record of them trying to grow oranges or using this as a greenhouse. A door leads from the orangerie to the bathroom next to the powder room.
Thank you for visiting!
We hope you enjoyed this tour of the architectural history of George C. Marshall’s Dodona Manor. We encourage you to visit us again and take a tour of the interior!
Would you like to donate or volunteer with us? Visit our website at www.georgecmarshall.org or contact us at info@georgecmarshall.org