Sunrise, also known as MacCorkle Mansion, is a historic home located at

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. It was built in 1905 by West Virginia's ninth governor, William A. MacCorkle (1857-1930). It is a long, three-story stone mansion. Its gabled roof is dotted with

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

s and chimneys and surmounts an intricate, but wide, cornice which gives the illusion that the house is smaller than it actually is. The

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

structure rests on a bluff overlooking the

Kanawha River The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its valley has been a significant industrial region of the stat ...

, and from the northern portico one can see nearly the entire city of Charleston. The north side features four magnificent

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

, or neo-classic, columns which support the cornice and

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

-finished pediment. In 1961 Sunrise Foundation, Inc., was formed for the purpose of purchasing the mansion and grounds. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. The mansion was the former home of the Sunrise Museum, a science and art museum that became the Avampato Discovery Museum when it moved into the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences - West Virginia when it opened in 2003.http://www.whycharlestonwv.com/headline/sunrise-carriage-trail/ Sunrise Carriage Trail, Dec. 12, 2008 Currently the house is privately owned and is not open to the public.

Gallery

Image:Sunrise Street Apr 09.JPG, Sunrise (Street View), April 2009

References

External links

* * Houses in Charleston, West Virginia Houses completed in 1905 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Charleston, West Virginia Stone houses in West Virginia 1905 establishments in West Virginia Historic American Buildings Survey in West Virginia Neoclassical architecture in West Virginia Georgian Revival architecture in West Virginia Greek Revival architecture in West Virginia {{KanawhaCountyWV-NRHP-stub