Compromise Amid Discontent; Partial Stockade Fence Approved

In a 4-2 vote last night, Leesburg's Board of Architectural Review approved a compromise fence for Dodona Manor's southern property line. The 6-foot tall board-on-board fence that was approved in 2004 was reduced in length by one-third, replaced with a 4-foot loop and wire fence that will now extend along a section of Market Street side of the property.

BAR members and residents have been candid about their dislike of the stockade fence, equating it to a monolithic barrier that would be more divisive than inviting. Although a previous BAR approved the fence to run the 480-foot length of the property, the current board expressed its dislike of the proposal and asked representatives from the historic Leesburg home to revise the plan.

And last night, Kirsten Dueck, executive director of Dodona Manor, presented a compromise she said was amenable to the board and the Garden Club of Virginia, which is overseeing the restoration of the exterior of the property: the 6-foot fence would run along the western two-thirds and the 4-foot loop and wire fence would stretch along the remaining one-third.

Ivy will be planted to grow across the entire length of the fence, Dueck said, a request she said BAR members made.

BAR member Tracy Coffing was one of the dissenting votes, saying although the new proposal may be in keeping within the board's guidelines, she did not believe it was an attractive feature.

Ned Kiley agreed that the fence was not what he would have liked to see constructed, but because it kept within the guidelines, he would approve it.

BAR chairman Teresa Minchew, who had warned Dodona representatives that the monolithic appearance was what most troubled her, said the new design mitigated that.

"I don' think it has the negative effect on the historic district" that it once had, she said, about the new design.

With the approval in hand, Dueck said she would go back to Dodona's board and the contractors with the plans and that installation would begin as soon as their schedules permitted.