Quarry Ridge

During the prosperous 1990s many American cities were embellished with clusters of large houses that have been described in terms ranging from “MacMansion” or “starter castle” to “house on steroids.” Quarry Ridge, developed on wooded bluffs high above Kanawha City and the state capitol across the river, contains Charleston's prime examples of the genre. Although the approach to the development is anything but grand, the houses themselves are, in a word, phenomenal. Most are built on ridges, though others are more comfortably set into glades. Various styles are present, as are a profusion of Palladian windows, generally lighting a two-story entrance hall, or a “great room,” or both. Rooflines are multiple and varied and three-car garages seem to be de rigueur. The outlines of several of the houses, silhouetted against the skyline, are easily seen from the capitol grounds across the Kanawha River.