Stranica 372 [372]
0 EES pe enersonarenertn psa ette erent eee aa eS
THE POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK
—— TE SZT ZAL TAMI IEESYEEET = — a ————_—_—
are the same masses of boxwood and the same fine park with its
kingly forest trees. ‘There is still the old rose-garden to be seen,
too, and the grapevine dell. It was in the latter place, possibly,
that Patsy, the beautiful young daughter and only child of Battaile
Fitzhugh, plighted her troth to Samuel Gordon, Jr., of historic
Kenmore. ‘I love you,’ said Patsy, with a radiant blush, “but 1
cannot leave Santee.”’
Ever since that time the place has been owned and occupied
by members of the Gordon family. Today, the infant grandson of
the late Robert V. Gordon, holds sway at the loved old homestead.
From Santee, a half mile’s stretch of woodland road leads to
Prospect Hill. The vines clinging close to the substantial brick
house; the great sprawling shade trees, with every evidence of
hoary, but well preserved and worthy, old age; the fascinating
brick walkways, overgrown with moss, all unite to give to Prospect
Hill that charming touch of days gone by, which lends itself so
irresistibly to many of the country seats in Old Virginia.
The present house on the old Battaile home site was erected
by Basil Gordon, whose daughter, Mrs. Charles Herndon, one
of the best loved, and one of the oldest residents of Fredericks¬
burg, remembers distinctly when, as a little child, a workman held
her up, so that she might have a wee hand in placing a brick in its
corner-stone.
After several careful owners and tenants, Mr. and Mrs. C. L.
Gage now have it in appreciative possession.
The house itself is most attractive, with its spacious rooms,
breezy halls, and wonderful woodwork. The pillars of the porch,
and the beams and boards (some of the latter being thirty-eight
feet in length) were hewn from trees in the nearby woods. But
it is the out-of-doors surrounding Prospect Hill that holds most
charm. In the adjacent woodlands are some old gun-pits and
breastworks, relics of the War Between the States. In the old
family burying-ground, not far away, are interesting mementoes of
days long gone.
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