What’s in a Ruin? Idlewild Manson By jon gerlach
When archaeologists first penetrated the Yucatan, they found ruins of ancient temples being consumed by the encroaching jungle. Questions - and mysteries - abounded. Who lived there, why did they leave, and what were these proud structures? The same questions
could be asked of a little-known place in Fredericksburg. It seems like time travel to walk through the woods, and suddenly find yourself gazing up at the towering walls of an old brick mansion.
Perched on a hilltop between the Idlewild Subdivision and I-95, sit the impressive ruins of a magnificent old home: the Idlewild Mansion. Historic Preservationist Donna Chasen, who is committed to seeing it restored one day, recently gave me a tour of the property, which is fenced and overgrown. I neglected to use insect repellent, and as I write this article the chiggers are still having their way.
tendrils.
The 2 ½ story, Gothic Revivalstyle, brick mansion was built by James Tongue in 1859. This was a magnificent, if not imposing structure, completely underlain by an English basement. The first owners were William Yates Downman and his wife Mary. A few years after moving in, William was taken from Mary by typhoid fever. When fighting swept across the property during the Chancellorsville campaign in May, 1863, the mansion was struck by artillery fire.
Thanks to the dedicated work of committed preservationists, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register. In 2008, during the economic recession, City Council considered several proposals to fully restore the mansion, but for various reasons none were accepted, not least of which was the economic climate of those times.
For 90 years the mansion stayed in the hands of the original family, the Downmans. When the Reverend John Yates Downman passed away in the 1940s, his older sister, Ann, sold the property. Thirty years ago, the site was vacated and nature began its inexorable process of reclaiming the buildings. Tragically, the beautiful mansion succumbed to arson in 2003, utterly gutted by a raging fire that destroyed the roof and nearly all the rooms. The City, which owns the site, undertook emergency stabilization using steel beams to brace the mansion's towering brick walls. Everyone agrees this is not a permanent fix, and the future of the site remains uncertain. It clings to life by its steely
Three outbuildings remain relatively intact behind the mansion: a square smokehouse, a possible dairy building, and a two-story structure with three bays that was renovated midcentury. One or more of these dependencies may have been living quarters for enslaved people who labored there.
So … what's in a Ruin? Here … an impressive mansion struggling against time for a new life.
An attorney and retired archaeologist, Jon Gerlach chairs the Architectural Review Board in Fredericksburg B/W photo by Brad Hedrick, Color photo by Jon Gerlach
front porch fredericksburg
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