After William Maffitt's death, his widow must have found life difficult. She had to keep up the farm, care for the slaves, and support her children and stepchildren. There was an outstanding debt on Salona owed to her sister-in-law in Georgetown. William Maffitt had mortgaged the property with Margaret Whann for $6,000 in 1823, and had paid back almost half of the amount due prior to his death.[87]
Ann Maffitt's state of mind was clearly revealed in a letter written by her on July 22, 1828, to Col. George W. Hunter urging him to reconsider his refusal to become administrator of her husband's estate. She pleaded with him: " ... I shall send my dear fatherless (and I might almost add) friendless Son to you this morning who will say everything he can to beg you not to desert us in our great time of need...."[88]
Dr. William Maffit, Jr
Dr. William Maffitt, Jr., Major, U. S. Army.Born November 14, 1811, in Virginia. Died October 7, 1864, St. Louis, Missouri.He was Reverend William Maffitt's only son.
Apparently her appeal fell on deaf ears, for the court records show that Robert C. Jackson was administrator. Margaret Whann brought a chancery suit against the heirs of Maffitt in 1831 and bought Salona at auction through her agent, Joseph McVean, for $2,650, only partial repayment of the $3,716.54 still due her. Meanwhile, slaves and personal property were sold, and small debts repaid. George W. Hunter, the lawyer who had refused to serve as administrator, came to a sale on May 20, 1829. John Hill Carter (Ann's son by her first marriage), E. L. Carter (probably her youngest daughter, Elizabeth), Thomas B. Balch (husband of her daughter Susan), Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones (a close neighbor), and George L. Turberville (Harriotte's son by her first marriage) all bought some of the slaves and personal property. When the property evaluation was made, the estate was worth $1,822.87-1/2. The inventory of Maffitt's personal property, exclusive of his slaves, was $1,588.89-1/2. No total was given for the value of the slaves. The court-appointed appraisers were Nicholas Paine, William Swink, and Joseph Sewell. Although they prepared their inventory in 1828, it was not reviewed and accepted by the court until March, 1832.[89]
Margaret Maffitt had been born in Cecil County, Maryland, on April 7, 1780. According to Sarah Somervell Mackall, Margaret went to Georgetown to visit her eldest sister Jane, wife of William Whann. While there, Margaret met William's brother, David Whann, and they were married on November 16, 1807. Until 1804, David had been a purser in the U. S. Navy on theEssex. Later he became a paymaster and traveled widely abroad. A captain in the D.C. Militia, he died of sunstroke in May, 1813, while reviewing his men on the parade ground. His widow "never received any compensation from the government" and was left with two small children, a son and a daughter.[90]
Apparently Margaret permitted Ann Maffitt to remain at Salona until 1835 at least and possibly until 1842 when the property was sold to Chapman Lee. In any case, Ann Maffitt and the three Maffitt children did not sign a quitclaim to the property until 1835.[91]Margaret Whann probably hired a tenant to maintain Salona as a working farm. There are no indications that Mrs. Whann ever lived at Salona; the deed to Lee refers to her as being "of Georgetown in the District of Columbia."
Chapman Lee, who was living in Alexandria at the time of the sale, bought the property in 1842.[92]He held the property for three years, then divided it and sold 208 acres to Elisha Sherman "late of Fairfield County, Connecticut."[93]The balance was conveyed to James McVean and Samuel M. Whann. Eight years later, Elisha Sherman and Anna, his wife, late of Fairfax County and "now of Washington County, D.C.," sold to Jacob G. Smoot of Georgetown the tract "heretofore called Langley but now called Salona"—208 acres.[94]
The Maffit Grave
The Maffitt grave is located in the Lewinsville Presbyterian Church cemetery, McLean. Photo by the author, 1975.
William Smute, originally of Dutch ancestry, came to Virginia from Scotland in 1633 and received a grant for 400 acres of land in 1642. He removed to Maryland in 1646 and thereafter, the Smoot (Smout) family activities as reported in local records showed periodic involvement with public affairs of county, colony and nation.[95]
In a recent history of St. Mary's County, Maryland, William Barton Smoot was listed as captain of the Lower Battalion of the county's militia during the American Revolution[96]and a William Smoot was recorded as a recruit for service in the War of 1812 by James Jarboe of Great Mills.[97]Mentions were made throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries of Smoot activities having to do with railroads, roads and schools.[98]The Smoot family also appears in the public records of Charles County, Maryland. Some family members migrated to Kentucky, others to Washington, D.C.[99]
Although Jacob Gilliam Smoot of Georgetown, D.C., purchased 208 acres of property—Salona—in 1853, he also held property on High Street (now Wisconsin Avenue) in Georgetown from which he probably obtained income. His family spent winters in Georgetown. Smoot had attended Charlotte Hall Academy in Maryland and his son William was a graduate, in law, from Georgetown.[100]The Salona property was of a size and assessed valuation consistently greater than over half of the properties assessed in Fairfax County at the time. Smoot's personal property including several slaves, was also well above average in quantity and evaluation.[101]
Camp of the 5th Vermont
The caption under this photograph reads: "The Battle Hymn of the Republic—'A Hundred Circling Camps.' The Fifth Vermont in 1861, with their Colonel L. A. Grant." FromThe Photographic History of the Civil War In Ten Volumes, pp. 154-155. The rock formation in the lower right hand corner can still be seen on Kurtz Road near Salona.
Map of NE Virginia
The McDowell map of northeastern Virginia, 1862, showing the section including Fort Marcy, Langley, Lewinsville and the Smoot's "Salona" property.
Sometime following Smoot's purchase of Salona, he bought two prize hunting dogs for a total of $5,000. The dogs later died from rabies. Smoot was interested in establishing a good herd of cattle so he purchased expensive registered Aberdeen Angus cattle prior to the Civil War. During the war, the cattle were appropriated and eaten by Union troops.[102]There were 50 cattle listed in the tax assessment in 1857, but the herd had dropped to 12 by 1860. In that year, Smoot was also assessed for 20 sheep and hogs. Gold, plate, silver, jewelry, kitchen and house furnishings were evaluated at $500, far above the average that year in Fairfax County.[103]The Smoots were a relatively well-to-do family.
From October, 1861, to April, 1862, according to a strong Smoot family tradition, Salona was used as the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac. Camp Griffin, in fact, was an installation partly on Salona and partly on adjoining farms and was part of the outer defenses of Washington. General George McClellan's dispatches, however, never used either Salona or Smoot's Hill as a source, although he did use datelines of Fairfax Court House and Camp Griffin. Military historians generally agree that McClellan was living in Washington, D.C., at the time, and, therefore, as commanding general, his residence would have been considered the headquarters.[104]
It is certain that troops were camped there and that there was skirmishing in the immediate vicinity of Salona. The following incident was recorded by E. M. Woodward, adjutant in the Second Pennsylvania Reserves:
Early on the morning of the 9th (October 1861) General Smith advanced his division from the neighborhood of Chain Bridge to Langley where deploying his skirmishers, he pushed forward a brigade on the Dranesville Pike, and took possession of Prospect Hill. With his main body he diverged from the pike at Langley to the left, advancing toward Lewinsville, which village he entered and occupied without opposition, leaving the main portion of his troops at Smoot's Hill and pushing on a detachment to occupy Miner's Hill....During the first ten days, the "long roll" was beaten and the men got under arms five times. On the night of the 11th the pickets in the neighborhood of Lewinsville were driven in and the next day the enemy consisting of at least three regiments of infantry, some cavalry and a battery of six guns were discoverednear Miner's Hill, concealed in the woods, which led to the supposition that an attack was meditated the next morning. At noon the drums beat and the men got into fighting order. General McClellan and staff including the Comte de Paris and the Duc de Chartres rode over and remained during the night at Smoot's House, and at midnight the drums beat again and every preparation was made for an attack.It was a clear and beautiful night, the moon shone forth in its mild beauty, the stars twinkled with resplendant glory and not a cloud glided through the sky. The drums beat the long roll, the trumpets of cavalry and artillery sounded their shrill blasts and the bands of the infantry pealed forth their most soul-stirring strains. The camp-fires burned brightly, the glittering bayonets and sabres flashed in the light and every heart beat high with hope.... But alas, after remaining in position until daybreak, chilled with falling dews, the boys were doomed to disappointment. Beauregard had only been in a reconnaissance in force, to ascertain our position since the recent extension of our front.[105]
When the federal troops moved out of the encampment in March, 1862, Captain W. A. Hawley and Lt. Col. W. B. Hazmand of the 102dNew York Volunteer Battalion signed the following memorandum giving all army materials left behind to Jacob Smoot:[106]
Army Memorandum
Original memorandum in the possession of Clive and Susan DuVal, Salona.
The Smoots spent most of the war in Georgetown, returning at the end in time to save some furniture and the main part of the house from being burned. Both wings of the house, the garden and many fine trees had been destroyed in their absence. They had filed petitions during the war asking the federal government for compensation for their losses. When federal troops had occupied Salona, Smoot had taken eight slaves to Georgetown where his brother John was in the drygoods business. During the investigation of his reparations claim it was discovered that J. G. Smoot had signed the Ordinance of Secession in the Lewinsville Precinct in Fairfax County on May 23, 1861. This act disqualified him from receiving compensation.[107]
Following the war, the Smoots set about the arduous task of restoring their farm to its former prosperity. By 1868, the aggregate value of personal property at Salona was $1,085, and in that year, only one in 15 taxpayers in the county had a personal property tax evaluation of over $1,000. A rosewood piano made its appearance, followed the next year by the addition of a "pleasure carriage" and a watch.[108]In 1870, books and pictures owned by Smoot were valued at $25.00—the vast majority of taxpayers had none assessed at all. By 1881, there were four conveyances, 10 horses, 10 cattle, 15 sheep, books valued at $50.00, two watches and two clocks. One of the clocks was probably the chiming grandfather's clock made in Newburyport, Massachusetts, which was built about 1817 and is still in the family.[109]A sewing machine was also listed. It is interesting to note that by 1881, at least half of the households in Fairfax County had such a machine.[110]
Salona was a working farm with a large barn, smokehouse, ice pond, and cabinetshop. Hogs, sheep, cattle and fowl were raised as well as wheat and corn. The old stone house, thought by the family to have been the oldest structure on the place, was surrounded by a peach orchard. The Smoots grew scuppernong grapes, plums and apricots. Italian grape vines adorned the arbor between the house and the brick privy. Descendants say that the farm had a consistently high yield per acre of corn and wheat, and that this information was faithfully recorded in account books which were destroyed when the attic was cleaned out or taken by vandals and lost.[111]But records in gazetteers listed J. G. and William Smoot as principal farmers in the Langley area for a period of more than 20 years.[112]
Smoot Family Photo
Smoot Family PhotoSmoot family photographs, late 1800s.
Smoot family photographs, late 1800s.
Sheraton writing cabinetThis mahogany Sheraton writing cabinet was obtained from England by the Kurtz importing firm in Georgetown, and was used for many years by the Smoots at Salona.
This mahogany Sheraton writing cabinet was obtained from England by the Kurtz importing firm in Georgetown, and was used for many years by the Smoots at Salona.
Jacob Smoot's PortraitAn unsigned charcoal portrait of Jacob Gilliam Smoot of Salona.
An unsigned charcoal portrait of Jacob Gilliam Smoot of Salona.
Wine Glass CoolersThese wine glass coolers are of deep blue glass with lips on opposite sides. They were used to rinse wine glasses between courses as different wines were served at Salona.
These wine glass coolers are of deep blue glass with lips on opposite sides. They were used to rinse wine glasses between courses as different wines were served at Salona.
Horsehair seatSide chair with original horsehair seat.
Side chair with original horsehair seat.
Marble top wash standThe marble-topped washstand and the blue and gold Haviland china were used by the Smoots at Salona.
The marble-topped washstand and the blue and gold Haviland china were used by the Smoots at Salona.
Silver spoonsThese coin silver spoons, marked "M. W. Galt & Bro." on the back, were hidden by Helen Calder Smoot, Jacob's wife, who, according to family tradition, tied them around her waist beneath her petticoat during the Civil War.
These coin silver spoons, marked "M. W. Galt & Bro." on the back, were hidden by Helen Calder Smoot, Jacob's wife, who, according to family tradition, tied them around her waist beneath her petticoat during the Civil War.
All photographs by Gene Lebherz.
Map of Potomac area
Map from G. M. Hopkins,Atlas of Fifteen Miles Around Washington,1879.
Salona farm
Salona farm, about 1900.
Salona farm
Salona farm, about 1890.
Like William Maffitt, Jacob Smoot died intestate, in 1875. He was survived by his widow Harriet and their four children, William S., Helen M., Harriet E., and Catherine C. After his widow died, each of the children received one-fourth of the estate. Even before Jacob's death, William Smoot, Sr., had taken over management of the farm while his unmarried sisters kept house. Each of the sisters took one of William's sons to raise. Jennie, William's wife, according to the Smoot descendants, acted as hostess, greeting visitors and entertaining them. Their son John moved to Georgetown; William Jr., went to Waterford to be the miller there; Gilliam stayed with his parents and gradually took over the farm operations. Life at Salona went on as usual, with no question of selling the farm or dividing its acreage.
William S. Smoot, Sr., died in 1900 leaving his share of Salona by will to his widow, Jennie K. Smoot. When she in turn died intestate, their three children, John D. K., Calder Gilliam, and William S., Jr., shared her portion of the estate. Jacob's three daughters never married, so their portions descended to their three nephews, William's sons, John, Calder Gilliam (known by the family as Gilliam), and William, Jr.
Both John and William died intestate. John's share of Salona was divided among his widow, Julia B., and their children, Jane Smoot Wilson, John D. K. Smoot, Jr., and Henry B. Smoot. William's share went to his widow, Elizabeth, and their two sons, William S., III, and John J.[113]
Salona circa 1914
"Salona," from an unpublished picture taken by "The Rambler,"about 1914. SeeSunday Star,"The Rambler," August 2, 1914.
In 1914, The Rambler, a Washington Star columnist, visited Salona, talked with the Smoots, and wrote a charming word picture of the exterior of the house:
You draw up in front of the garden which surrounds the house. A white-washedfence four boards high, incloses the garden. Inside are old cedars thick through the trunk and solemn in foliage. There are clumps of rose bushes and borders of jonquils. Stumps of trees that have been wrecked by wind or lightning support bark-bound flower boxes. A driveway curves to the left and a gravel path leads straight to the front porch before which the box trees are growing. The porch is capacious with a balcony on top. Under the porch and in the middle of the house is an arched doorway. On the left of the garden around the house is an apple orchard and on the right is a flourishing grape arbor. This is Salona. It is a fine, quiet and dignified old place.[114]
Some years later, in 1932, for the first time in history (as far as it is known) Salona was open to view by the general public. It was one of the occasions in local observance of the George Washington Bicentennial Birthday Anniversary. Mrs. John Kurtz Smoot was the official hostess and she and her house tour guides were dressed in floor-length period costumes.[115]
World War II brought the end of the estate as a family farm. Gilliam was growing older and was suffering from arthritis; help was almost impossible to find. Unable to carry on with farming, Gilliam rented the land to the Carper family as pasture and moved from the mansion into a smaller house nearby. A family of Negro caretakers moved into Salona for a time. After the Carper lease expired without renewal, the caretakers left. William S. Smoot, III, occasionally lived on the property, sometimes in a portion of the main house, and sometimes in the old stone house, which he dreamed of remodeling. The main house was rented to an antique dealer who, according to a Smoot descendant, had the house "filled with junk from top to bottom."
Since they could no longer maintain Salona as a working farm and none of them wanted to occupy the main house on a permanent basis, the Smoots decided to partition the property. In 1948, Calder G. Smoot, onlysurviving son of William S. and Jennie K. Smoot, Sr., received as his share some 65 acres and the house. He did not, however, occupy Salona.[116]In the late 1940s and early 1950s, small parcels of the Salona property were sold to the McLean Baptist Church, the Salona Shopping Center and Trinity Methodist Church.[117]
In the early 1950s, Salona was rented to the McLean Summer Theatre as a dormitory for the actors. Reportedly, they left the house "a shambles." The next tenants were a Danish captain and his family who occupied the east wing.
In 1952, Calder Gilliam Smoot died "unmarried and intestate" and his 65 acres and the house became the joint property of his four nephews: John D. K. Smoot, Jr., Henry B. Smoot, William S. Smoot, III, and John J. Smoot, and of his niece, Jane Wilson Smoot. Most of this property, in three separate land transactions, became the property of Clive and Susan DuVal.[118]
Division Plan
Susan and Clive DuVal, II, arrived in northern Virginia in 1952, hunting for an older house with interesting architectural features and surrounding acreage. When they discovered Salona, it was occupied by the Danish family who were in the east wing. They decided it was just the house they wanted, unprepossessing though it appeared, full of the musty odor of unoccupied houses, ill-treated by a succession of temporary tenants and youthful vandals, and in poor repair inside and out. Inspection of the house would have discouraged the average home buyer but the DuVals had the desire and resources to do what was necessary to rehabilitate the dwelling and to live in it.
The first of three tracts was purchased from the Smoot heirs in January, 1953, and the DuVals spent about a year extensively renovating the house and grounds before they moved in. Without specific descriptions of the original house to use as guidelines, they attempted to preserve as much as possible of the presumed original dwelling while adapting it to modern living.[119]
Both of the DuVals are descendants of French Huguenots who immigrated to New Amsterdam in the late eighteenth century. Both were born in New York City. One of Mrs. DuVal's grandfathers was Jesse Metcalf, a United States senator from Rhode Island, and her father was Frederic H. Bontecow, a New York state senator. As other residents of Salona had been before them, the DuVals were well educated, above the average level of Fairfax County residents. Mrs. DuVal is a graduate of Vassar, DuVal of Yale University Law School. And like some of their predecessors, their income, cultural interests and extent of community involvement are also well above the average for the time in which they live.[120]
The DuVal family arrived in Fairfax County during a period when the population growth was expanding rapidly, both from in-migration and natural increase. With them the couple brought their three children, Susan Lynde (Lyn), Clive, III, and David. Daniel, their fourth, was born in 1953. Their experience was a reflection of the times—in the 1950 U. S. Census, Fairfax County's population was 98,557; in 1960, it had increased to 248,897.[121]
The DuVal Family
The DuVal family, about 1957. Left to right Daniel, Susan Lynde, Clive II, Susan, David andClive III. The English setters, Christmas, Dusty and Belle, are also "members of the family."
Also reflecting the Washington metropolitan area's typical experience in the 1950s, DuVal came from elsewhere to accept employment with the federal government, in his case, as Assistant General Counsel (International Affairs) for the Department of Defense. He was, typically, a World War II veteran, a former officer in the United States Navy. From 1955 to 1959, he was general counsel for the United States Information Agency. Since then, he has been in the private practice of law. As did the majority of married women with children in the decades 1950-1970, in Fairfax County, Mrs. DuVal stayed at home with the children rather than taking a regular outside job, except for her many volunteer projects in which she was regularly involved in the McLean community.[122]
Salona became a place of hospitality, where social, political, arts and educational events were held. The Woman's Club of McLean, the McLean House Tour, the McLean Ballet Company, Children's Hospital, the Fairfax YWCA, the McLean Boys Club, the Northern Virginia Democratic Women's Club, Yale University students and the Historical Society of Fairfax County, were among the many beneficiaries of the DuVals' generosity in making Salona available for special events.[123]
In 1965, DuVal ran for and was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, in which he served for three consecutive terms.[124]He ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate seat against Harry F. Byrd, Jr., in the democratic primary in 1970, but was subsequently elected to the Virginia State Senate in 1971 and 1975.[125]
Because of his deep interest in conservation and environmental protection, DuVal received both the Virginia state award and the National Wildlife Federation award in 1970 for being the outstanding conservation legislator in the United States.[126]Consistent with this demonstrated interest, the DuVals decided to take a major step in conservation themselves. They entered into a perpetual easement agreement in 1971 with the Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County, Virginia, for the historic preservation of Salona, its surrounding outbuildings and eight acres of land. In the same legal instrument, a temporary easement for the remaining 44.3 acres was arranged for a period of at least ten years.[127]A later amendment, in 1974, provided for termination of the temporary easement only after January 1, 1990.[128]
In 1975, a patriotic organization, the Society of the United States Daughters of 1812, obtained the DuVals' permission to place an historic plaque at Salona to commemorate James Madison's visit there in 1814. The bronze plaque was mounted in a foundation stone from what are thought to have been old slave quarters. They once stood in the side yard below the house. The plaque reads as follows:
1784-1815SALONA"A place of great hospitality"Shelter for President MadisonAugust, 1914When British burned WashingtonPlaque placed by Virginia State SocietyNational Society of United StatesDaughters of 18121975
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]
Salona Floor Plan
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.
Attic Plan
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 saythat 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.
West Wall of Salona
West wall, showing evidence of a former doorway opening.Photo by the author, 1975.
Salona Entrance Way
Salona entrance hall. Photo by the author, 1975.
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.
Stonehouse ruins
Stonehouse ruins
Stonehouse ruins, Salona.Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, 1958.
Springhouse and barn
Springhouse and barn, Salona. Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress, 1958.
Rear view main house
Rear view of the main house, Salona. Photo by the author, 1975.