Survival of a Greek Revival

This is an installment in an ongoing series of stories on historic and interesting homes in the area.

Like nature, the past speaks in a multitude of voices.

It can be heard in the prose of a writer whose hand has long been still, or felt in the time-polished wood of an ancient sea trunk. Some of the past’s most dramatic expressions radiate from homes that have embraced generations, growing ever more beautiful with age.

Chestnut Hill in Orange is such a place. It stands on a grassy slope overlooking Caroline Street, appearing as spry and fresh as it did when it was built in 1860.

It’s a dwelling with much to say about the past, as well as the importance of saving such visual treasures. It speaks all the more powerfully because it came within a dollar bill of being reduced to a pile of splintered wood and debris.

In the spring of 2003, Chestnut Hill stood in the way of a proposed access road to a new middle school. The town purchased the house for $320,000 and initially planned to tear it down.

When local residents spoke up on behalf of the house, noting its historic significance, officials offered it for auction. They even provided the potential buyer with a nearby plot of land on which to relocate the dwelling.

Troy Ayers found out about the auction a few days before it was scheduled to be held. His grandfather founded Ayers House Movers in Fredericksburg, and it was still in the family.

“Troy showed up at the auction and registered to bid,” said his wife, Kathleen Ayers. “He noticed he was the first and only person to register.

“They started calling the auction, and when the auctioneer got down to $100,000, Troy put his hand up.

“The auctioneer said, ‘We have a bid for $100,000.’ Troy said, ‘No, I’m bidding one dollar.’ We got the house for one dollar, but, of course, then the fun began.”

Chestnut Hill started its new life in April as a luxurious bed and breakfast inn. It’s one of the nine Inns of Montpelier in Orange that work together in association with James Madison’s estate, sharing ideas and recommending each other if they have no vacancies.

It took six years of faith, diligence, hard work and plenty of money before the house’s new life could begin. As it turned out, one of the easiest challenges was moving the structure the short distance to its present location.

“We think a big part of why people didn’t come to the auction was because of a rumor,” said Troy Ayers, who works as a real estate developer and heads Platinum Land and Finance in Fredericksburg.

“The rumor spread through town that once we tried to start moving this fragile house that was nearly 150 years old, it would fall to pieces. A lot of people who came to watch the move thought they would see the house collapse.

“Our family has moved thousands of houses, and they know that houses built back in that era are often more stable than a new one built today. Fortunately, we knew that, and it worked to our advantage.”

Alexander Daley had the house built on an 11-acre parcel of land he purchased from Col. John Willis. The design combined features of Italianate and Greek Revival styles. Its heavy frame construction served it well during the move. The large, stately house with its eight fireplaces and two stories symbolized the owner’s business success.

Daley, an Irish immigrant, arrived in Orange County in the 1840s and started a tannery. The chestnut trees from which the house derives its name were plentiful on the acreage and helped supply the tanbark used to treat the hides.

Daley also sold leather, as well as shoes that were made in a factory on the property. The prominent businessman deepened his mark on history by becoming a major force in the civic movement to advance the village of Orange Courthouse into a bona fide town.

After initial disappointments, the effort succeeded and the town was incorporated. Daley became a founding member of the first town council when elections were held in 1872.

By the mid-1880s Daley had reached old age, having outlived two wives. The tanner with the thick Irish brogue sold the house to Reuben Conway Macon and his wife, Emily.

Macon had served with the 13th Virginia Infantry during the Civil War and had been seriously wounded in the shoulder during the Battle of the Wilderness. He was a great-nephew of Madison and served as the town’s postmaster.

In the early 1890s, the Macons replaced the original roof with a mansard roof, transforming it into three stories. This addition was used as an attic until the recent renovations, when it was transformed into a guest room and a bridal suite, named for Emily Macon.

When Macon died in 1927, his widow continued to live at Chestnut Hill until her death in 1943. The house was willed to one of their sons, Clifton Macon.

The house then passed through a number of owners before it was placed on the auction block. After the sale, the house began to evolve into what it has become.

“The original reason why we bought the house had nothing to do with where we are today,” Troy Ayers said. “Kathleen and I have always had a fascination with these old homes, and we thought it would be neat to restore one.

“We didn’t want to make it into an office building, because our thought was that one day we might end up making it our home. The closest thing we came up with that would keep it intact as a residence was turning it into a bed and breakfast.”

Initially, the plan was to have relatives run the inn. But during the ensuing years, things changed, and Kathleen Ayers took on the job. She couldn’t be happier.

“We named this guest room ‘Pink Serendipity,’ ” Kathleen Ayers said as she opened the door into the third-floor room, which overlooks the back

gardens and hillside.

“Of course, serendipity is fortunate things that happen through a series of accidents.

“I never thought of doing this, but now that I am, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m having a ball with it.

“Troy is still in real estate development, but he helps out by making the breakfasts and appetizers. I do all the baking.”

Each of the six guest rooms is named after a person or memorable aspect of the house’s rebirth. For example, one room is called “Four Quarters,” referring to the amount the house was purchased for.

Another beautifully appointed room is called “Ask Anna,” referring to Anna Davis, principal interior decorator of the house.

“Anna specializes in historic decor, and so often when a question would come up we’d say, ‘You’d better ask Anna,’ ” Kathleen Ayers said as she gave a visitor a tour of a house that features refinished heart pine flooring throughout — except for the entertainment room in the basement, which has mahogany flooring.

“It took Anna about three years to accumulate the furniture and artwork that’s in the house. She and her husband made a special trip to New York to get the flame-banded dining room table that seats 12.

“Tammy Goings did all the beautiful artwork in the dining room and parlor, as well as the wall paintings in the main bathroom on the first floor. I told Anna that, being it was the only common bathroom in the house, I really wanted it to pop, and she didn’t let me down.”

The bathroom is appointed with a crystal chandelier and a carved wood cabinet inset with a marble washbasin. A larger crystal chandelier hangs in the entrance foyer.

For a period of time after the Civil War, Chestnut Hill had taken in boarders. They certainly didn’t have the amenities of soft bathrobes, luxurious sheets and pampering service lodgers now rave about.

The Chestnut Hill guestbook is filling up with long, glowing testimonials from visitors from as far away as China.

Some of the lengthy notes have moved the couple to tears, like one from a man who treated his wife to a weekend stay to thank her for standing by him through a difficult time.

Because of the laudable effort made by the Ayerses, Chestnut Hill again resounds with joy and echoes from the past. Recently, the couple learned how close a piece of the town’s past came to vanishing forever.

“My feeling for the house has developed and grown as I’ve learned more about its history,” Kathleen Ayers said. “We learned just a few months ago that there were 14 Greek Revival/Italianate-style homes built here in Orange.

“This is the only one left standing.”

Chestnut Hill’s future appears secure. It’s now on the national as well as the state’s registers of historic places.

Part of the reason for the lengthy renovation had to do with the couple taking great care, as well as incurring considerable expense, to conform with modern safety needs as well as guidelines from historians.

Troy Ayers said Chestnut Hill doesn’t make good financial sense based upon the investment he and his wife have put into the property. Even so, they feel they’re being enriched in a more important way.

“We’re getting something beyond financial gain from this,” Troy Ayers said of the house. “We’re building relationships with others.

“We get as much joy out of the house as the customers do. One couple asked this morning, ‘How do you juggle everything? When do you have time for you and Kathleen?’

“My answer was, ‘This is it.’ This is our time for me and Kathleen. We have as much fun with it as they do.”

For more information on Chestnut Hill, go to http://www.chestnuthillbnb.com or call (540) 661-0430.