Temple Hall facts for kids
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Temple Hall
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 Location in Virginia
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| Location | 15764 Temple Hall Lane, Leesburg, Virginia |
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| Area | 286 acres (116 ha) |
| Built | 1810 |
| Architectural style | Federal style |
| NRHP reference No. | 07000053 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | February 13, 2007 |
Temple Hall is an amazing old house and a working farm in Loudoun County, Virginia. It was built in 1810 and is a great example of the Federal style of building. Today, it's a fun place where you can learn about history and farm life!
Contents
A Look Back: Temple Hall's History
Temple Hall was built in 1810 for a man named William Temple Thomson Mason. He was the son of Thomson Mason and the nephew of George Mason, who was a very important person in early American history.
Famous Visitors and Family Life
Temple Hall became a popular spot for important people in the area. A very famous French general, Marquis de Lafayette, visited the house on August 9, 1825. He was on a big tour of the United States. Guess who came with him? The President of the United States at the time, John Quincy Adams, and a former President, James Monroe!
During their visit, Lafayette, Adams, and Monroe even helped with the baptism of Mason's two youngest daughters. Lafayette was a godfather for one daughter, and Adams and Monroe were godfathers for the other. William Mason and his wife, Ann Eliza Carroll, raised ten children at Temple Hall.
Life on the Farm
Besides the Mason family, about twenty enslaved African Americans also lived and worked on the property. They helped make Temple Hall a successful farm. The farm grew crops like corn and wheat, and they also raised animals.
Changes During the Civil War
In 1857, William Mason moved away and sold the farm to Henry A. Ball. Henry Ball also used enslaved people to work the farm. When the American Civil War started, Henry Ball supported the Southern states. He was even arrested for a while because he didn't want to support the United States government.
Later, a famous Confederate soldier named John S. Mosby visited Temple Hall in 1864. He got information there that led to a battle nearby. The Ball family owned Temple Hall until 1878.
A New Chapter: Popcorn and Preservation
After a few different owners, Mr. and Mrs. James H. Symington bought Temple Hall in 1940. They worked hard to fix up the old house. They added modern things like indoor plumbing and electricity.
The Symingtons were also very good farmers. They started growing different crops and eventually became famous for their popcorn! They were the biggest popcorn suppliers in the eastern United States for a while. After World War II, the popcorn market changed, so they started raising animals like cattle and hogs, and growing food for them.
Mrs. Symington took over running the farm when her husband got sick. She was worried about all the new buildings being built in Loudoun County. So, in 1985, she gave the 286-acre farm to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NVRPA). Now, the NVRPA runs Temple Hall as a working farm and a place where people can learn about history.
Temple Hall is also part of a larger historic area called the Catoctin Rural Historic District. It was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, which means it's a very important historical site!
What Temple Hall Looks Like
Temple Hall is a great example of Federal-style building from the early 1800s.
Key Features of the Mansion
- It's made of brick laid in a special pattern called Flemish bond.
- The front of the house, called the facade, has five sections.
- The roof is a hipped roof, which means it slopes down on all four sides.
- The main entrance has a small porch, called a portico, with simple columns.
- Above the front door, there's a beautiful, curved window called a fanlight.
- The house also has tall windows with six panes of glass on the top and six on the bottom.
- Around the top of the building, there's a decorative band called a frieze.
- Tall chimneys stick up from the ends of the house.
Other Buildings on the Property
Besides the main house, Temple Hall also has:
- A square brick smokehouse, which was used to preserve meat.
- Two old barns from the 1800s, made of wood.
