The exterior of this brick home at 25 Lanier Avenue, built in the Federal style around 1830 by Hugh Wier, may be the most unchanged of all Chatham's early homes.
It was purchased and restored during the 1930's by Reginald “Duke” Kenney and his wife Anna Whitehead Kenney. (“Capt. Kenney” was on the faculty of Hargrave Military Academy, and later for many years taught in the English Department at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.)
Originally the Wiers' yard extended from Main Street (facing the present Episcopal Church lot) to Tanyard Branch at the foot of the hill behind the house. However, the lot was subdivided and developed around the turn of the century, leaving the Wier house sideways to Lanier Avenue and surrounded by other dwellings. The resulting relationship between the street and the Wier House is reminiscent of structures of similar age in Charleston's Battery.
After the Kenneys, Dr. Hugh Willis and family provided careful and thoughtful ownership for several decades. In 2002, the home was purchased by, and is now the residence of, Mr. and Mrs. Phil Mauger and family.
For further information, see:
Fitzgerald: Pittsylvania: Homes and People of the Past
This website is sponsored by Mitchells Publications and the Sims-Mitchell House, Chatham, Virginia.
Copyright © 1999–2008 Patricia B. Mitchell.