Holladay Memories

I have a lot to write about, so I don’t know where to begin!  As 2010 winds down, I’m looking back at some of the extraordinary things that have happened at the Holladay House– receptions, events, 1500 costumed kids filling Main Street for Halloween, the Christmas parade, wine festivals….  What should I write about next?

With the Civil War Sesquicentennial (I’ll let you google that–it took me a little while to pronounce it correctly, too, and I was an English major!) kicking off in grand style next year, I’ll continue on a historic theme: our historic inn!

Many of you may recall that late last year we hosted a Memories Reception.  The idea was to invite as

Doctor Lewis Holladay’s medical instruments on display at the Holladay House in 2009. Dr. Holladay practiced medicine from 1896 to 1946.

many long-time local residents as we could to help us learn about and record the storied history of our historic bed and breakfast in Orange, VA. The food was fantastic (prepared by our friend and frequent chef, Paul Diegl), and the Virginia Wine flowed like…well… like wine! But, the real joy was hearing local residents recount their tales of daring-do in the Town of Orange, and specifically the Holladay House. It was a historian’s delight. We even displayed much of Dr. Holladay’s antique medical and surgical equipment, some of which was over 100 years old! I’ll write more about the specific oral histories later, and will just say that our primary goal was to collect as much info as we could, and then invite everyone back a year later to hear about what we had collected.

One of the oldest known photographs (ca. 1895) of Orange, Virginia includes the Holladay House (then called the Chapman House)! Our historic inn is the first house on the left.

And, that’s what we did!  For the encore event, we unveiled an improvement we completed in the main hall. Largely due to our efforts the previous year, we were able to collect several Holladay Family photographs, an 1895 photo of the house, newspaper clippings, personal papers, World War II selective service awards signed by Franklin Roosevelt, and some other items, which we framed and hung in the main hall. During this project, we repaired a section of the old wall, and even uncovered historic wall paper that dates to sometime in the early 1900s.

In addition, noted architectural historian Ann Miller gave an enjoyable presentation on how to use architectural features to date an old house, specifically using elements of the Holladay House as her examples.

Louise Holladay, ca. 1905. We found this photo tucked in an antique chest here at the Holladay House.

The history of our Virginia bed and breakfast predates even the Civil War, and is one of the earliest buildings constructed in the Town of Orange. So, expect to see some discussion of what Orange was like prior to the Civil War, and the significance of the Holladay House during our republic’s formative years.

I also plan to take some photographs of some of the more instructive architecural features of our historic inn. The historic architecture in Orange, VA really is an amazing collection of all of the classic styles of 19th century American architecture, and the Holladay House plays an important role in that collection.  As one of the only brick Federal-Style houses of that era in Orange,VA the Holladay House Bed and Breakfast is as interesting to historians as it is to our guests!

Of course, there’s more to us than history. Orange County is one of the finest sources of Virginia products in the state, so one can expect to have plentiful opportunities for fine dining, local gourmet shops, farmer’s markets, wineries, etc.  And, let’s not forget Montpelier (an archaeology workshop on ceramics is coming up in January)!

So, I have a lot to write about and am beginning in earnest!  Come back soon and see what’s next!