Dodona Manor, the former home of General George Catlett Marshall (1880–1959), is a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

and

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that is preserved as a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a variety of ...

at 312 East Market Street in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

. It is owned by the George C. Marshall International Center, which has restored the property to its Marshall-era appearance of the 1950s. It is nationally significant as the home of George C. Marshall,

Chief of Staff of the United States Army The chief of staff of the Army (CSA) is a statutory position in the United States Army held by a general officer. As the highest-ranking officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, the chief is the principal military advisor and a ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Secretary of State, President of the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

, and Secretary of Defense.

Description

Marshall and his wife Katherine purchased the property for $16,000 in 1941 and lived there until his death on October 16, 1959. Legend has it that Katherine paid the owners $10 earnest money and threw the "for sale" sign into the bushes as she left to discourage the competition. Except for a winter home in Pinehurst, N.C., this house was the only home Marshall ever owned, and was the backdrop to quiet conversations and contemplations of international importance. The widowed Katherine gave the house and 3.88 acres to her daughter, Molly Winn, in 1960 when she moved to Pinehurst for permanent residence. When Mrs. Winn expressed her desire to sell the property in the early 1990s, several prominent Leesburg citizens under the leadership of B. Powell Harrison, fearing that the property might fall into commercial hands and be demolished, urged the Town of Leesburg to purchase it. That proved to be impossible, so the citizens formed the George C. Marshall Home Preservation Fund, later the George C. Marshall International Center, and purchased Dodona Manor for $2.3 million. After renovations costing more than $4.5 million, the house opened as a museum on

Veterans Day Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces. It coincides with holidays in several countries, i ...

in 2005. Much of the money for the purchase and renovation was donated by European nations that had benefited from the Marshall Plan. Further funding was provided by grants from the

Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

( Save America's Treasures program), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Garden Club of Virginia, and generous private donations.George C. Marshall International Center George C. Marshall's Dodona Manor was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996.

History

The house was named Dodona Manor before the Marshalls purchased it. The name derives from

Dodona Dodona (; , Ionic Greek, Ionic and , ) in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Ancient Greece, Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the 2nd millennium BCE according to Herodotus. The earliest accounts in Homer describe Dodona as an oracle ...

, . a shrine in ancient Greece where priests and priestesses interpreted the rustling of oak (and beech) leaves as messages from the gods. Dating from the second millennium BCE, the Dodona shrine was considered to be second in prestige only to

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

. Due to the large number of oak trees located on and around the property, naming the house Dodona Manor seemed appropriate. There is evidence that a two-story house existed on the property with five-course American brickwork in the early 1800s. John Drish, who purchased the property in 1805, added a Federal-style wing with

Flemish bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cou ...

brickwork and keystone arches in the mid-1820s and gave the property to his son Wilson Drish, who sold it to Fayette Ball, a distant relative of

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, in 1855. In 1856, the Rev. Charles Nourse, principal of the Leesburg Academy, purchased it. He tried unsuccessfully to sell it in 1859, and then opened the Loudoun Female Collegiate Institute in the house in 1860, after completing an addition to increase the number of bedrooms. Subsequent owners included Sophia Delany, Joseph and Martha Prather, Wallace and Sally George, Yvon and Ella Pike and Marcia McCann Ely and Northcutt Ely, who added electricity and indoor plumbing and eventually sold it to the Marshalls. The Marshalls also added a stone court, and changed the wooden porch to a more durable brick.

Collections

Dodona Manor is unique among historic houses because over 90% of the furnishings and memorabilia in the house were owned and used by the Marshalls and were obtained from Mrs. Marshall's heirs. Due to the extensive disrepair over time, detailed plans for the conservation and placement of the collection and for the reproduction of the original floor and wall coverings were developed by Dr. William Seale, a leading expert in the field, and Anne Horstman, who served as executive vice president of the Marshall Center during the restoration. Among the items are originals or reproductions of art given to the Marshalls, including a reproduction of ''View of Tinherir'', painted by Sir

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in 1951 and given to the Marshalls in 1953. The original ''View of Tinherir'' was sold at auction by Marshall's granddaughter Kitty Winn in 2006 for £612,800 ($1.2 million in 2024), a record price for a Churchill painting at that time. Another reproduction is ''Evening'', by Russian artist Vassily Baksheyev. The original was a gift to Marshall from

Vyacheslav Molotov Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov (; – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician, diplomat, and revolutionary who was a leading figure in the government of the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, as one of Joseph Stalin's closest allies. ...

, foreign minister of the Soviet Union, in 1947 in appreciation for Marshall's efforts in World War II. Dodona Manor also has an original black and white landscape painted by

Soong Mei-ling Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling; March 4, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang (), was a Chinese political figure and socialite. The youngest of the Soong sisters, she married Chiang Kai-shek and played a prom ...

, wife of the president of the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, Chiang Kai-shek. She and the Marshalls became close friends when Marshall was President

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...

’s special envoy to China in 1946–47, and Madame Chiang visited Dodona Manor on at least one occasion. Other pieces of Chinese art in the house include a painting by Wen Xuan Dai, a gift from the Chiangs to Katherine on her 64th birthday in 1946, and a fish painting by Tzulu Shen gifted by the Chinese Cultural Enterprise as a thank you for Marshall's efforts in China. For Christmas 1959, two months after Marshall died, President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

sent a print of his watercolor painting of Mount Eisenhower, currently Castle Mountain, located in

Alberta, Canada Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, to Mrs. Marshall, with a handwritten note. Both are on display in Dodona Manor. Also on display is Marshall's favorite red La-Z-boy next to his

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

radio and television combination set, where he would listen to his favorite baseball team, the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

, and watch his favorite TV shows including ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

,'' and ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...

'' in one of the most comfortable rooms in the house, the library. This room includes many treasured items including figurines of a Chinese wedding procession given to Marshall by Madame Chiang Kai-chek, a portrait of Colonel

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

, and scores of the Marshalls' books, usually historical biographies. Although Lee attended

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

and Marshall attended VMI, Marshall considered General Lee and George Washington brilliant military strategists, which is evident by the multiple portraits seen throughout the house. Due to her fondness for the Marshalls, Madame Chiang was a guest at Dodona Manor many times throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The original master bedroom was converted to a guest bedroom, while George and Katherine occupied the two original guest bedrooms connected by a Jack and Jill bathroom. The use of separate bedrooms suited their different habits: George was a military man who woke up early and enjoyed his own space, similar to the days of military barracks living, whereas Katherine enjoyed sleeping late and having breakfast in bed. Madame Chiang brought with her three to five servants who stayed in the grandchildren's nursery.

Grounds

To protect the views from Dodona Manor, the George C. Marshall Preservation Fund purchased eleven surrounding properties during the principal restoration, ten of which have since been sold off. A shopping center known as "The Shops at Dodona Manor" is owned by the Marshall Center and generates revenue for the site. The grounds have been restored to their Marshall-era appearance of the 1950s and include a large vegetable garden that was restorative as an antidote to the pressures Marshall felt as Army Chief of Staff. Katherine delighted in growing roses, and a restored rose garden features the types of roses she cultivated. George Marshall himself was known as a great proponent of mulch in gardening.

References

External links