Selma is a historic property and former

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. The county seat is Leesburg, Virgi ...

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 ...

, near Leesburg. Selma is best known as the residence of Armistead Thomson Mason (4 August 1787–6 February 1819), a

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

from

from 1816 through 1817.

History

The lands of Selma were once a part of the

Northern Neck Proprietary The Northern Neck Proprietary – also called the Northern Neck land grant, Fairfax Proprietary, or Fairfax Grant – was a land grant first contrived by the exiled English King Charles II in 1649 and encompassing all the lands bounded by the Pot ...

owned by Lord Fairfax, and Selma was a part of the tract bought around 1741 by Stevens Thomson Mason. Selma was built at the base of

Catoctin Mountain Catoctin Mountain, along with the geologically associated Bull Run Mountains, forms the easternmost mountain ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are in turn a part of the Appalachian Mountains range. The ridge runs northeast–southwest for ...

overlooking a sweeping vista of lawn and pastureland between 1800 and 1810 by Armistead Thomson Mason. Mason came to be known as the "Chief of Selma." Due to a political quarrel between Mason and his cousin Colonel John Mason McCarty, he and McCarty dueled at the Bladensburg dueling grounds in Bladensburg on 6 February 1819. Mason and McCarty chose Bladensburg as the location of their duel due to Virginia's recently enacted anti-dueling law. Mason died at the first shot, while McCarty was spared by an accident but dangerously wounded. While Mason's widow continued to reside at Selma with their young son, Stevens Thomson Mason, Jr., McCarty and his family settled nearby at Strawberry Plain. Though living a few miles apart, however, the Mason and McCarty families never renewed their acquaintance. McCarty was an avid hunter and one day while following the flight of game, he mounted a fence that formed the boundary between the Mason and McCarty properties, and attempted loading his rifle from that position. McCarty allowed his attention to be diverted by the movements of the birds or the hunting dogs which resulted in his gun slipping. It exploded and sent the

ramrod A ramrod (or scouring stick) is a metal or wooden device used with muzzleloader, muzzleloading firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant (mainly blackpowder). The ramrod was used with weapons such as muskets and cannons and was u ...

through his head. Armistead Thomson Mason's son, Stevens Thomson Mason, Jr., found McCarty and carried him to nearby Raspberry Plain, Mason's birthplace and the home of his father Stevens Thomson Mason. Selma was inherited by Mason's only son, Stevens Thomson Mason, Jr. At age 21, Mason was a rich and attractive young man and was often seen driving a handsome pair of horses tandem through Leesburg. A too generous expenditure of his fortune brought reverses which forced Mason to sell Selma. Upon selling Selma, Mason joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and while serving as a captain in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

was mortally wounded. All but the original part of Selma was destroyed by fire in the early 1890s. In 1896 the property was purchased by Elijah B. White, the son of Elijah V. White. White commissioned Richmond architecture firm Noland and Baskervill to design a Colonial Revival mansion, which was built between 1900 and 1902 and included part of the earlier house as a kitchen wing. No expense was spared in achieving a level of luxury, including modern conveniences such as "speaking tubes", a form of intercom system. By the 1920s, the Whites were known to hold many high society events and parties at the plantation with Governors, Senators and Congressman in attendance, and was regularly featured in the society pages of newspapers and magazines. The plantation remained in the White family for several generations, before being sold to the Epperson family in 1976, who turned the estate into a wedding and function venue. Following a succession of owners, Selma was sold to a foreign investor in 1999 and fell into neglect. A parcel of the original 212-acre Selma Plantation was sold to a local developer in 2002, leaving Selma with a 50-acre conservancy lot. In 2009, the nonprofit group Preservation Virginia placed the

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

on its "Most Endangered Historic Sites List." After years of neglect and vandalism, Selma was purchased in March 2016 by Sharon D. Virts and Scott F. Miller, and is currently undergoing a massive restoration project as a private home.loudonnow.com
After Saving Selma, Virts Boosts Land Trust’s Preservation Efforts
16 Aug 2016

Architecture

The present Selma is a two and one half-story, hip-roofed,

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed brick mansion. Selma is considered Loudoun County's earliest and best example of

Colonial Revival architecture The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

. Selma features an imposing

tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

Roman Doric

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

with a full

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and triangular

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

. The dwelling also exhibits a

modillion A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a Cornice (architecture), cornice which helps to support them. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally transl ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

with

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

s, pedimented

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

s, twelve-over-one double-sash windows, and tall interior end chimneys. Selma's central entrance is surmounted by a large semicircular

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window (transom window), often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing (window), glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open Hand fan, fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, ...

with

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

and flanked by engaged fluted Roman Ionic

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s. A board-and-batten

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is curing (food preservation), cured with Smoking (cooking), smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

s also lie on the Selma property and appear to date from the early 20th century as well.

References

{{Virginia Masons Mason family residences Houses in Loudoun County, Virginia Houses completed in 1815 Houses completed in 1902 Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Plantations in Virginia Gilded Age mansions