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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 Fredericksburg, 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. L231 |
