swannanoa palace

stucture impressive with marble, inside there is no furniture, many rooms closed and others in state of a mess. In its day it was grand, growing up it was off limits, it should be as well today

It is tragic to see the condition of Swannanoa Palace but still worth a trip - they truly don't build them like this anymore ... and there's a reason. It takes tremendous wealth to maintain an old estate like this. The tiles on the roof were in bad shape some years back and their replacement was in the hundreds of thousands of $$s to replace with the same Italian tiles matching the originals. This is truly one of the last great estates from the 1920s and even shredded and tattered tapestry walls still have an elegance one can more easily recognize than in old photos. Painted ceilings that at chipped and pealing are still incredible to see. The stained glass Tiffany window is one of the few in the country - giant proportion - showing Mrs. Dooley - it is incredible. The staircase and marble floors ... the built-in fine wood cabinets and bookcases. Well worth the trip and the small fee they charged.One can hope that it may yet be saved and restored but in the meantime it is well worth the visit to help visualize the grandeur that was once Swannanoah.

I went with my best friend and kids, had been waiting for years to see the inside! We paid 6.00 per person abd there was no tour guide. All of the doors upstairs were locked and u didn't get to see much. On the lower floors you can see from the staircase the owner uses it like storage, papers all over the floors and junk! Very disappointed! I would like to see it be sold and repaired to its glory! Have owners that care about this place it is such a part if history and is sad to see it be falling down! It should be a historical sight and is such a spiritual place! Please someone SAVE it!!

I had visited the Dooley's former primary residence in Richmond at Maymont Park as a child. My fiancee & I were in search of a wedding venue, so we decided to visit Swannanoa (their summer home) as a potential location. Pulling in, the front looked gorgeous! Although we agreed the marble needed to be cleaned. The back of the house was falling apart and had ropes keeping visitors away from debris. I still kept hope that the long trellis in the garden area would be great for entertaining our wedding guests, but soon discovered the wood rotting away and unfinished construction pieces just laying about. The fountains were dirty, drained, and not in use. The "pond" had green muck & is probably a breeding ground for mosquitoes.The inside of the house was bare and in places there were just old papers, trash, and chairs just laying about. (Not from the Dooley's era, just somebodies outdated junk from the early 1990's). Pieces of fallen marble were just propped again whatever structure they fell off of. It just seemed as the property's sole purpose was to house someone's unwanted junk.This house has the potential to attract TONS of visitors & host HUNDREDS of weddings if someone would actually care for the property & fix it up. It has SO much potential & I hate that it is just falling to pieces. It would cost a lot of money to fix it up, because it has been allowed to get so bad though.

This hundred year old property must have been a magnificent palace. The marble exterior is still very impressive. The grand staircase, fireplaces and wood paneling on the first floor show the painstaking renovations that have been completed. The palace has no furniture, and the upper floors are rather stark. The remnant of the garden is still attractive--clearly a team of gardeners is needed to restore it. After having visited Maymont in Richmond, the beautiful city home of this family, Swannanoa is disappointing. During my visit, a photo shoot of a number of young girls from a nearby dancing school added valuable color and life to the setting. A place worth preserving, but a wealthy benefactor is needed!

The 6.00 they charge to get in should be used for upkeep of this fantastic mansion. Everything is so beautiful and it is so sad to see it falling down around itself. Check out the blue prints posted in the breakfast room, a lot of the rooms are locked and the prints give you a better understanding of where everything. It is clear this beautiful building will one day be nothing but a shell. See it before its gone.

On a whim, Hubby and I decided to see if we could find this place since my ancestors are Dooleys and could possibly be related to the Dooleys who built Swannanoa. As we drove up through the tree lined driveway, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, my heart racing. When this magnificent mansion came into view, it took my breath away! No one was there that fall afternoon so we wandered the grounds and felt like we were stepping back in time. We found the dates on the door of when the inside tours would be given so we made plans to bring my parents, my daughter and son-in-law and my grandsons back. They were in awe of this place, the tour was awesome as we could wander the majority of the house on our own. My mom was totally blown away by the place and the possibility of those Dooleys being related to her mother and ancestors filled her heart with joy. It's been almost a year since we visited Swannanoa but my mom still talks about it as if it was yesterday. Visiting that place has given my family memories that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Check out the Swannanoa Facebook page.

I loved seeing this beautiful place as I"ve been to Maymont in Richmond built by same man; love them both, WISH Swannoanoa had more hours; we missed going inside but awesome just to see it and a beautiful drive to get there; will go back.........

So excited about seeing the inside of this place....so disappointed and ANGRY by the time I left. I asked the owner what the $6 per person fee was going towards. His response, a very condescending "In my POCKET!" I was appalled by the response. I explained to him how I felt that, in this condition, no one has a right to charge the public to see this dilapidated building, and if something were being done to improve it, the fee would be appropriate. He became very defensive, commenting on my being from a nearby town and how "we are all the same," asking me to leave and not return! I apparently, am the first one in eight years to comment on my disappointment of my visit. I urge you to NOT PAY THIS MAN, he doesn't care about this place, and it is a very sad situation. I also encourage you to let this man know that PEOPLE DO CARE.

This property was truly once a gem, but whomever is showing it now for $6 per person is doing nothing to make it worth the time or the money. I know restoring a property takes time and my wife and I have enjoyed many "works in progress", but being in mid-rennovation has a different look from unkept, untidy, and uninformative. Seemingly, all that was done for this sad old beauty was to throw the door open and place a cash box on a card table by the front door. Some of the money spent posting signs pointing the way, would have been better spent on hiding debris or just sweeping the front porch.

I have been wanting to go here for several years and was expecting the house to have been restored. I was very sad to see that it is literally falling down around itself. There has been very little done to stop the tide of destruction from the elements. The grounds are beautiful but also not being utilized as they should. This could generate some income for the repairs. The views are beautiful and the house is worth a look. It would be nice if they at least would clean out the storage items which have nothing to do with the period history of the house. A great opportunity for pictures inside and out. The mountain vistas are heavenly. Go see it before it's gone.

Took my Daughter & wife to see the place. The owner, Was a total JERK ! He's stinking rich. Letting the place crumble to the ground. He needs to be bent..Asked him about the Damage ? Told me, he don't come to my trailer, & make commits about my place. Calling me Trailer Trash ! He needs to be taken to the Wood Shed ! Won't go back !30 years ago, my wife drew colored sketches of the place. It was a site to behold. NOW, WOW !

My husband & I honeymooned at Afton in August 1974 & met Mrs. Lao Russell when we toured Swannanoa Palace. We bought her book "Love" & she signed it for us! The tour guide there that day was quite surprised when Mrs. Russell appeared & spoke with us as she later told us she rarely made appearances during tour hours from where she lived upstairs. I treasured it & when we left Virginia for our new station in Hawaii (my husband is retired Air Force), they lost our household goods & our book! I've been searching for it all these years & have yet to find it! We wanted to go back this year for our 40th anniversary & this is SO sad to see this magnificent place in such condition. We realize it's a huge mansion to care for, but, couldn't it be sold & included somehow in the National Registry for Historic Places & cared for? This just made me cry as we remember how beautiful it once was - - - "heaven on the mountain" is what we always called it.

I waited 5 months until spring and then traveled 2.5 hours to see Swannanoa Palace and it did not disappoint. The entrance is rather obscure and is marked by both a "No Trespassing" sign and an entrance sign to the estate. This only added to the mystique. Thankfully there were admission price ($6 for adults, free for kids) signs posted along the way however, and after verifying the entrance with a local, my son and I drove up the steep driveway to the mansion above. We are historical home enthusiasts and visit them whenever possible. This home was unlike any we had seen before because it was not "done up" like many other homes open for tours. As other Trip Advisors have posted, parts of the home and grounds are in sad disrepair, but as the brocheur says, some efforts have been made to fix the roof and marble exterior. Inside the walls, mosaics, frescoes and Tiffany window speak of bygone opulence, and made us so grateful to have seen it at all. It is an architectural dream. The owner was sitting at the entrance taking tickets the day we went and I personally thanked him for opening its doors. The home is only open certain weekends per year, but is definitely worth visiting before it's too late. If any millionaires are reading this, can you please rescue this magnificent home?

My goodness it was something in its day! VERY little is being done to save the once grand home. You can tell it has a problem with vandals. It might not be worth the $6.00 per person fee. If you like wandering around derelict manor homes you will love this. Any one have about 50 million to put it right?! (Make sure you make a potty stop before going--you would not want to use the port-a-john that is never refreshed.)