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The historic Fancy Hill mansion was purchased this past Friday by Generals Redoubt, an organization established by alumni of Washington and Lee University.
The property’s 22-acres, which includes barns and outbuildings, was sold to the group for $1 million and will be used as the Generals Redoubt headquarters.
Generals Redoubt came to fruition about five years ago, President Stephen Robinson (class of ’72, ’75L) told The News-Gazette this week.
The group works towards “[empowering] alumni, students, and parents in the Washington and Lee University community to advance Washington and Lee University’s unique history and traditions of honor, civility, and classical liberal arts education,” according to the Generals Redoubt website.
Generals Redoubt has been critical of a number of actions by the school’s board of trustees and president in recent years, including the ongoing renovations to University Chapel, formerly Lee Chapel.
Group members had been searching for a couple of years for an adequate headquarters space in Lexington, but only really started considering the Fancy Hill mansion at the beginning of this year, Robinson noted.
Built in 1821, the Fancy Hill property has served many different purposes within Rockbridge County. It is one of the seven brick mansions known as “The Seven Hills of Rockbridge,” and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since its conception, it has been used as a dwelling, a stagecoach stop, a tavern, and a post-Civil War boarding school for boys, according to the register nomination form.
In 1934, Elmer R. Knick purchased the property and planned to demolish the house. The Rockbridge Historical Society fought his notion, convincing Knick that the Fancy Hill house was a Rockbridge County landmark.
Knick decided to renovate the property in 1936 and drew on the help of Carl Smith, a carpenter who contributed to the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg. Fancy Hill was purchased by the latest owners, Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Vaughn, following the death of Knick in 1985.
The Vaughns have made slight renovations of their own and have maintained the property to uphold the beauty of Rockbridge’s “Seven Hills.”
Robinson believes the Vaughns will have vacated the property by the end of the month, allowing Generals Redoubt to begin extensive renovations to meet the needs of the organization, he said.
In its next life, the Fancy Hill mansion will host seminars and programs, create a gathering location for W&L alumni, and provide current W&L students with a welcoming place to get away from campus to study or relax, he said.
As Generals Redoubt moves into its new headquarters, its board is searching for an executive director to manage the organization’s endeavors.
