Others had given up on the neglected stone house

This story is part of an occasional series that explores interesting homes in the area.
For years, the stone house enjoyed neither the warmth of human occupancy nor the upkeep that generally goes with it.
A cocoon of green ivy enveloped the two-story dwelling at 104 Stadium Road in Charlottesville. Stone pathways that had felt the tread of some of the University of Virginia’s most prominent figures during the middle years of the 20th century became buried beneath tangled vines and weeds.

Water from a leaky roof rotted wood, stained ceilings and walls and caused plaster to crumble. The once proud gem in the city’s architectural crown had become a forlorn shadow of its former self.

When Douglas E. Caton and Rick Jones bought the derelict house last fall for $424,000, what they wanted was the valuable land it stood on.

“Buying the house was in our best interest, since it was next door to Woodrow Apartments, which we’ve owned for at least 20 years,” said Jones, vice chairman of Management Services Corporation.

“The guys in our development department basically looked at the house and said right off the bat, ‘It’s a tear-down.’ The house had been condemned [years before], because it was uninhabitable.

“All three bathrooms were totally shot, gone. Floor joists were rotted, and the seal plate in the basement was bad all the way around, which meant the upper walls were basically resting on nothing. Most of the pipes were rusted out, and every heat radiator in the house was broken.”

Despite the rundown condition of the house, vestiges of its former grace and style still were evident. Built in 1927 by Malcolm MacLeod, the house has a design that merges old Virginia architecture with elements of Bavarian whimsy.

German style, Virginia artistry
The Bavarian influence is particularly apparent in the great room, which features a towering open beam ceiling, accented by the spacing of exposed vertical laths. The 2-foot thick, native-stone walls that gives the house much of its charm and character also contributes to its European flair.

Jones and Caton quickly realized this was no ordinary house. When the longtime partners heard the “tear it down” assessment, they looked at each other, and without exchanging a word knew they weren’t going to take the advice.

“I thought the place had great bones, and I love a stone house,” said Caton, a retired Army major general and chief executive officer of the Caton Company, of which MSC is part. “We’ve always been into renovations, and we hate to tear anything down.

“The house has considerable charm, and we thought it would be a good place for people to live who want to be close by the university. Obviously, the guy who built this was very creative.

“You can picture him here in the great room in a big leather chair, surrounded by his books and enjoying a fire in the fireplace. You can imagine him saying, ‘My home is my castle, and I have exactly what I want.’ ”

If Caton had given the order to bring the house down, more would have been lost than a lovely home. A touchstone of history would have vanished as well.

MacLeod had been close friends with Edward R. Stettinius Jr., who served as secretary of state under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and also was instrumental in the creation of the United Nations. Stettinius was a frequent visitor to the home, as well as to the University of Virginia, which he attended in the early 1920s.

During the 1940s, Stettinius served as a member of the university’s Board of Visitors as well as its rector. Fortunately, Caton and Jones saw beyond the undergrowth and major repairs the house needed.

Hidden treasures
“The structure of the house was good, but we basically had to rebuild it from scratch,” Caton said. “The big challenge was that everything was a challenge.

“First, we had to uncover it. It was so overgrown that we didn’t know there were walkways or a stone wall. We relied a lot on Dick Abidin, who runs CMS.

“We walked him through the house, and he was positive about it, too. He said, ‘It’s not that bad. We can do this.’ ”
What followed was a lot of doing. But as the work progressed it became ever more apparent what a treasure the house was.

Although all the flooring joists had to be replaced, the oak flooring itself was as sound as the day it was installed. The 8-inch-wide oak baseboards, rarely seen today, were in great shape as well.

Little touches like alcoves and bookshelves built into walls, and electric candle sconces flanking a bedroom window, provided further evidence of the thought and love that went into the creation of the home. Attention to details and stellar workmanship were discovered throughout the dwelling.

“The workmanship with the stone is amazing,” Jones said. “This place has been here since 1927 and not a single [grout] joint has come apart, or a piece of stone fallen out.

“When I first saw the house I thought, ‘Here is a charming home that someone lovingly built.’ It was very sad to see how it had ended up. It was kind of unbelievable that could happen to such a great home.

“Windows were broken, and most of the pipes were rusted out. We had to replace the furnace, all the plumbing and most of the electrical wiring.”

After months of work and an outlay of more than $70,000, the house has been returned to its former beauty and elegance. Now it stands as a vivid, visual testament to the value of preservation.

The interior of the house     glistens with new paint, fixtures and appliances.
The property’s revitalized landscape and towering magnolia trees provide a sense of tranquility, and also serve as a noise buffer against the hum and rattle of traffic passing along the busy streets it intersects.

K. Edward Lay is Cary D. Langhorne professor emeritus of architecture at UVa and author of “Architecture of Jefferson Country: Charlottesville and Albe-marle County, Virginia.” He has long been a strong voice and advocate for the preservation of architecture in the area and throughout the state.

“Now that we’ve entered the 21st century, these 20th-century buildings, particularly the ones built during the first part of the past century, are becoming increasingly important,” said Lay, who taught architecture,  architectural history and historic preservation at UVa.

“This is certainly true of stone houses. And any time important figures are involved, it makes these places all the more important to save. These people add flavor and continuity to our history.”

With the stone house now saved and restored, the plan is to rent the four-bedroom dwelling to a UVa faculty member or a group of graduate students.

Whoever the occupants are, they will likely cherish the opportunity to live in a house with so much class, charm and history.

“I think we’ve done something good for the community,” Caton said, a tone of satisfaction in his voice.
“We’ve saved a house with incredible historic value, and turned it back into something very charming for somebody to live in.

“If we had torn it down there would just be a vacant lot here.”
Those interested in renting the stone house can call 977-8203.