Huntley: A Mason Family Country House by Tony P. Wrenn
Published by the Fairfax County Division of Planning under the direction of the County Board of Supervisors in cooperation with the County History Commission Fairfax, Virginia November 1971
CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1. The Mason Family
Chapter 1 Notes
Chapter 2. Huntley and Its Owners
Location and Site
Origin of the Name
Owners and Occupants
Chapter 2 Notes
Chapter 3. An Architectural Description[51]
Room Arrangement
Windows and Doors
Interior Features
Exterior Features
The Tenant House
The Storage House and Necessary
The Icehouse
The Root Cellar
Dairy and Springs
Early Structures No Longer Standing
Chapter 3 Notes
Chapter 4. The Architect of Huntley
The Architectural Plan
Area Architects, Circa 1820
George Hadfield
Similarities to the Work of Hadfield
Chapter 4 Notes
Summary
Appendix A: Some Mason Houses in Northern Virginia
Thomson Francis Mason Houses
Other Mason Houses
Appendix B: Chain of Title
List Of Sources
Division of Planning Publications Staff
Preface
I first visited Huntley in May, 1969 in the company of Edith Sprouse, Joyce Wilkinson, and Tony Wrenn. Neither I nor anyone else on the staff of the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission had ever seen or heard of the house, and my Fairfax guides were anxious that their “discovery” be brought to our attention. Having assumed that anything of interest in that section of Fairfax County had long been swept away for housing developments, I was in no way prepared when suddenly we rounded a corner and looked up to see a curious geometric structure sitting placidly among its outbuildings against a wooded hillside, aloof from its plebian neighbors. A quick scanning of composition and details dissipated any skepticism I may have had: here, on the outskirts of the capital city was a genuine Federal villa!
After being graciously escorted throughout the house by the owners, we all agreed that Huntley was, without question, one of Virginia’s undiscovered architectural treasures. Since next to nothing was known either of its history or the development of its design, we concluded that the house deserved the most detailed study. All assumed that a house of such intriguing individuality had to have a story behind it.
Through the far-sighted patronage of the Fairfax County Government and the meticulous research of Tony Wrenn, this story has now been pieced together. The text which follows provides a history and descriptive analysis worthy of this distinguished Virginia landmark.
Calder Loth Architectural Historian Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission
Acknowledgments
This study was undertaken at the request of the Fairfax County History Commission in 1969, when Mrs. William E. Wilkinson was chairman, and in cooperation with the Fairfax County Division of Planning.
Colonel and Mrs. Ransom Amlong, owners of Huntley and their son Bill answered the author’s numerous questions and gave him free rein to wander through the house and site. Edith Moore Sprouse provided frequent research leads and both E. Blaine Cliver, restoration architect, and Calder Loth, architectural historian with the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, provided architectural analysis. William Edmund Barrett provided most of the architectural photography. A major source of material concerning Thomson F. Mason was a collection of his papers, lent to the Alexandria Library by William Francis Smith for our use. Other leads were provided by Mrs. Earl Alcorn, Mrs. Sherrard Elliot, Miss Patricia Carey of the Fairfax County Public Library and Miss Margaret Calhoun of the Alexandria Library. Mrs. Hugh Cox provided valuable material on T. F. Mason in Alexandria.
Acknowledgment is also due to those who read and made suggestions concerning the final draft of this report, among them Dr. John Porter Bloom, Patricia Williams, John Gott, Mrs. Ross Netherton, Julia Weston, and several others already named above.T.P.W. September, 1971
