Allen House

Sensitively designed and beautifully crafted, this extraordinary stone house is set in a pastoral landscape of rolling hills on an 850-acre estate. Madison Spencer, of Train and Spencer Architects of Charlottesville, Virginia, who won the commission over two other firms, selected the site. Rather than placing the house on a hilltop where it might have overwhelmed the setting, he placed it on a lower ridge, a sheltered spot where an older homestead once stood. Major elements are conceived as pavilions, thus breaking up the mass and allowing the 12,000-square-foot house to rest lightly on the landscape. The main block, guest wing, and garage surround a courtyard, while the master suite is angled to accommodate a rock outcropping. Its roof and that of the main block are gently curved, further relating the house to the surrounding hills. Exterior walls are of a rich, tawny sandstone, the larger blocks taken from the abutments of a railroad bridge in Elkins, the smaller fieldstones from the site. The twostory great hall, at the center of the main block, and the adjoining, mahogany-paneled library are among the major interior spaces in a house that is as comfortable as it is imposing.