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A sideboard holds candlesticks and a silver tea set in
The front porch, as well as the rest of the house, is surrounded
The original living room at 810 Hanover St. leads to what was once an alcove at the rear of the house. The window frames were retained and turned into built-in shelving for what is now a music room and passageway to the family room.
The addition provided space for a family room at 810 Hanover St. It looks into the expanded kitchen and breakfast room. |
THE EARLY YEARS of the 20th century gave Fredericksburg many homes that have become classic examples of the period's architecture. Two generations removed from the Civil War, the era's homes seem to reflect a rekindled pride in the city's charm and a bright outlook for the future.
The white clapboard home at 810 Hanover St., with its wide front porch and black shutters, is a good example. Thanks to its visible location at Hanover and Littlepage streets, it has become something of a neighborhood landmark.
It was part of Historic Fredericksburg Foundation's 1987 Candlelight Tour. Research done at that time set the construction date at 1933, though city tax records put it at as early as 1920.
The roofline helps set it apart. Described as a Dutch Colonial style, it combines a gambrel or barn style with a bungalow-type roof that extends over the front porch. Bungalows were sprouting up in the city starting in the '20s. The home at 810 Hanover was built by local builder Millard Brown, who was also its first occupant.
Owned since 1979 by Stephen and Norma Sanford, the home is listed for sale with Janel O'Malley and Robin Marine of Coldwell Banker Carriage House Realty in downtown Fredericksburg. The asking price is $850,000.
The original portion of the house, with its textured-plaster interior walls, period moldings and tiled bathrooms, is complemented by a major 1988 rear addition that doubled the finished living space. Three bedrooms became six, a family room was added, and the kitchen was expanded to include a casual eating area.
Local contractor Steve Spratt built the addition based on a design by Charlottesville architect Jim Payne.
The main house includes more than 3,800 square feet of finished living space.
There are obvious differences between the newer and original materials used, but the moldings, hardwood floors, arches and angles used in the addition were designed to unify the interior decor.
Outside, the difference between the white clapboard siding on the original and added portions of the house is nearly imperceptible.
The wide front porch welcomes visitors to the main entry, which opens to the living room. A focal point in the living room is the fireplace with dentil mantelpiece. The formal dining room is to the left.
To the rear of the living room is a small room that once formed an alcove at the rear of the house but now serves as a music room and passageway to the family room.
The family room provided by the addition includes its own wood-burning fireplace.
As part of the addition, the kitchen was remodeled with light wood cabinets and contrasting black appliances. A powder room was added nearby.
Above a few arches and doorways in the addition are floral designs hand-painted by Jeanie Fellinger, who has taught art for three years at Harrison Road Elementary School in Spotsylvania County.
"The first one I did was for my son when he was an infant," she said. She's done just a few others for friends who have asked.
The staircase to the second story comes to a "T." Turn left and a few steps up you enter the original second story with three bedrooms--one of them the original master suite with a full bathroom. Turn right and a few steps up you enter the second story of the addition. Here there are three more bedrooms, including the new master suite with its own bathroom and step-up jetted tub. There is another full bath serving the other bedrooms.
There is a finished partial basement that could serve nicely as a home theater.
Behind the main house is a separate, heated, two-car garage with a small attached office. Above the garage is a two-bedroom apartment with kitchen and living room that would be the perfect guest quarters or in-law suite.
The lot, at about a third of an acre, is large by city standards. There is a rear porch on the main house that steps down to a fenced patio area. A driveway runs alongside the house from Hanover Street to a wide, paved approach to the garage.
The house is surrounded by landscaping and gardens that include a variety of trees, shrubs and flowers. There is even a modest grassy area at the rear of the lot.
"It was a great house to raise a family," said Stephen Sanford, the father of four boys. Because of his sons' enjoyment of soccer, he set up a field across his own and a neighboring rear yard, with goals at each end. Neighborhood kids would come and play there.
"Many of those kids [including a couple of his own] are now playing college soccer on scholarships," he said, listing their names and the top Virginia schools they are attending. "They learned the game right out there."
To reach RICHARD AMRHINE: 540/374-5406 ramrhine@freelancestar.com
