George C. Marshall's Dodona Manor facts for kids
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Dodona Manor
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U.S. Historic district
Contributing property |
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Dodona Manor in 2018
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 Location in Northern Virginia
Location in Virginia
Location in the United States
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| Location | 312 East Market St., Leesburg, Virginia |
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| Area | 3.88 acres (1.57 ha) |
| Built | 1807, 1820s, 1850s |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| Restored | 1995–2005 |
| Restored by | George C. Marshall Home Preservation Fund |
| NRHP reference No. | 96000972 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | June 19, 1996 |
| Designated NHL | June 19, 1996 |
Dodona Manor was the home of General George C. Marshall (1880–1959). It is located at 312 East Market Street in Leesburg, Virginia. Today, it is a National Historic Landmark and a historic house museum. The George C. Marshall International Center owns the house. They have restored it to look just as it did when General Marshall lived there in the 1950s. This house is very important because it was the home of a key leader. General Marshall was the Chief of Staff of the United States Army during World War II. He also served as Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. He was also the President of the American Red Cross.
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A Special Home for a Special Leader
General Marshall and his wife, Katherine, bought Dodona Manor in 1941 for $16,000. They lived there until he passed away in 1959. There's a fun story that Katherine paid the owners $10 to hold the house. Then she threw the "for sale" sign into the bushes! She wanted to make sure no one else could buy it.
This house was the only home General Marshall ever owned. He also had a winter home in North Carolina. Dodona Manor was a place for quiet talks and important thoughts about world events. After General Marshall died, Katherine moved to Pinehurst. In 1960, she gave the house and its 3.88 acres to her daughter, Molly Winn.
Saving Dodona Manor
In the early 1990s, Mrs. Winn wanted to sell the property. Some people in Leesburg worried that the house might be torn down. So, they formed a group called the George C. Marshall Home Preservation Fund. This group later became the George C. Marshall International Center. They bought Dodona Manor for $2.3 million.
After spending over $4.5 million on repairs and updates, the house opened as a museum. This happened on Veterans Day in 2005. Many European countries helped pay for the house and its restoration. They did this because they had benefited from the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was a program General Marshall created to help Europe after World War II. Other groups also helped with money. These included the Commonwealth of Virginia and the National Park Service.
Dodona Manor was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1996. This means it is a very important historical place in the United States.
The History of the House
The house was called Dodona Manor even before the Marshalls bought it. The name comes from Dodona, an ancient Greek shrine. At this shrine, priests and priestesses believed they heard messages from the gods. They thought the messages came from the rustling leaves of oak trees. Since there were many oak trees around the property, the name Dodona Manor seemed perfect.
How the House Grew Over Time
Records show that a two-story house was on the property in the early 1800s. It had five-course American brickwork. In 1805, John Drish bought the property. In the mid-1820s, he added a new part to the house. This part was in the Federal style, with Flemish bond brickwork. He then gave the property to his son, Wilson Drish.
Over the years, the house had several owners. In 1855, it was sold to Fayette Ball, a distant relative of George Washington. The Rev. Charles Nourse bought it in 1856. He opened a school for girls there in 1860. He even added more bedrooms for the school. Later owners added modern features like electricity and indoor plumbing. The Marshalls bought the house from Marcia McCann Ely and Northcutt Ely. The Marshalls also made changes, like adding a stone court and changing the wooden porch to brick.
Collections and Treasures
Dodona Manor is special because most of the furniture and items inside belonged to the Marshalls. Over 90% of the things you see were owned and used by them! These items were given by Mrs. Marshall's family. Experts carefully planned how to fix and display everything. They also made sure the floors and walls looked just like they did when the Marshalls lived there.
Art and Gifts
The house has copies of art given to the Marshalls. One is a copy of View of Tinherir. This painting was made by Sir Winston Churchill in Morocco in 1951. He gave it to the Marshalls in 1953. The original painting was sold for a lot of money in 2006.
Another copy is Evening, by Russian artist Vassily Baksheyev. The original was a gift to General Marshall from Vyacheslav Molotov. Molotov was the foreign minister of the Soviet Union. He gave it to Marshall in 1947 to thank him for his work in World War II.
Dodona Manor also has an original black and white landscape painting. It was painted by Soong Mei-ling, who was the wife of the president of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek. She and the Marshalls became good friends. This happened when Marshall was President Harry Truman’s special helper in China in 1946–47. Madame Chiang visited Dodona Manor at least once. Other Chinese art pieces are also in the house. These include a painting by Wen Xuan Dai, given to Katherine on her 64th birthday. There's also a fish painting by Tzulu Shen.
For Christmas in 1959, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent a special gift. It was a print of his own watercolor painting of Mount Eisenhower (now Castle Mountain) in Alberta, Canada. He sent it to Mrs. Marshall with a handwritten note. Both are on display at Dodona Manor.
Marshall's Favorite Things
You can also see General Marshall's favorite red La-Z-boy chair. It's next to his General Electric radio and television set. He loved to listen to his favorite baseball team, the Brooklyn Dodgers. He also watched his favorite TV shows like I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, and American Bandstand. This was in the library, one of the most comfortable rooms in the house.
The library has many other special items. These include small statues of a Chinese wedding procession. Madame Chiang Kai-shek gave these to Marshall. There's also a portrait of Colonel Robert E. Lee. The Marshalls had many books, mostly historical biographies. General Marshall admired General Lee and George Washington as brilliant military leaders. You can see many portraits of them throughout the house.
Guests and Bedrooms
Madame Chiang was a frequent guest at Dodona Manor in the 1940s and 1950s. Because she visited so often, the original master bedroom was turned into a guest room for her. George and Katherine used two smaller guest bedrooms. These rooms were connected by a Jack and Jill bathroom. They liked having separate bedrooms. George was a military man who woke up early and liked his own space. Katherine enjoyed sleeping late and having breakfast in bed. Madame Chiang would bring three to five servants with her. They stayed in the grandchildren's nursery.
The Grounds and Gardens
To protect the beautiful views from Dodona Manor, the George C. Marshall Preservation Fund bought eleven properties around it. Ten of these have since been sold. A shopping center called "The Shops at Dodona Manor" is owned by the Marshall Center. The money from the shops helps support the museum.
The gardens have also been restored to look like they did in the 1950s. There's a large vegetable garden. General Marshall found gardening relaxing, a good way to escape the stress of being Army Chief of Staff. Katherine loved growing roses, and the restored rose garden features the kinds of roses she grew. General Marshall himself was known for being a big fan of using mulch in gardening.
See also
