Andalusia House (Site)
GPS Coordinates: 38.7369906, -77.0426851
Closest Address: 867 Andalusia Drive, Fort Hunt, VA 22308

These coordinates mark the exact spot where the house once stood. No visible remains exist. William Snowden’s home, Andalusia is pictured above. There are no known pictures of his first house, Arcturus which became the guest house once this dwelling was built.
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Here follows an excerpt from the 1970 Fairfax County Master Inventory of Historic Sites which contained sites from the Historic American Buildings Survey Inventory:
Andalusia:
Andalusia was built by William H. Snowden, a writer who moved to Fairfax County about 1869 to join his brothers Stacy and Isaac who had preceded him in about 1859. Isaac first owned "Wellington," then "Riverview," while Stacy owned "Collingwood," all located on the original Mount Vernon River Farm. When William came, he bought a five-acre knoll between the residences of his two brothers. He built a small frame house (now a guest house) in which he lived while building Andalusia.
Because he frequently made trips to Alexandria to collect his mail, he began to accommodate his neighbors by collecting their mail for them. This eventually led to an offer from the Post Office Department to establish a regular branch in Andalusia, which "Captain" Snowden named "Arcturus," after a star in the constellation Bootes. He operated the post office from his pantry window from 1893 to 1902.
In 1905, William Snowden sold Andalusia to the Carlin family; and, in 1932, the Carlins sold it to the Aldrich Dudleys.
The Dudleys have enlarged, altered, and stuccoed the frame house. In 1937, they built a brick wellhouse patterned after a Williamsburg smoke or meat house and a brick garage patterned after a Williamsburg tavern; and they had the frame guest house moved to its present location. All the work was done in 1937 under the supervision of architect Milton Gregg.
Andalusia is set on a small promontory in the Potomac River with views of Alexandria, Washington, and the Maryland shore. It is approached by a long lane lined with alternating cedar and dogwood trees. The gardens were designed by Mrs. Dudley, who was a founder of the Fauquier-Loudoun Garden Club when she was a resident of Middleburg, Virginia.
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Here follows an excerpt from the "Backyard Mount Vernon" blog written by Tammy Mannarino:
Wellington, Riverview, Andalusia, Arcturus and Collingwood: The Snowden Brothers and their Homes
Posted on January 9, 2019 by Tammy Mannarino:
Once upon a time, there were three brothers: Isaac, William and Stacey Snowden. They lived on a farm in New Jersey with their Mother, Rhoda Hazelton Snowden, brother John, and two sisters, Abigail and Mary Jane. The Snowdens were Quakers and likely heard about opportunities in the Mount Vernon area through the Mullica Hill Friends Meeting where they were members. In the late 1840’s, Quaker families from New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia migrated to Virginia to purchase inexpensive farm and timber lands and to work with the free black community that existed in the area around Mount Vernon. They wanted to show that slavery was not necessary for financial success. In 1859, two years before the Civil War started, the brothers left home. While it is unclear whether Isaac, William and Stacey were previously acquainted with others that moved into the Mount Vernon area, they certainly worked in concert once they were neighbors.
As they left the Quaker enclave in Harrison Township, they couldn’t have imagined the lasting impact they would have on their new home. They purchased large tracts of land that had previously been part of George Washington’s River Farm and helped forge a community that would, for a time, carry their name (Snowden, VA). Their homes would be central to the development of roads, schools, churches, postal delivery, social and business organizations, recreation, and rail and steamboat travel between Washington DC and Mount Vernon. While there are no known Snowden descendants still living in the area, evidence of their residence in our community from 1859-1949, is easily seen. Communities, roads and properties still bear their names or the names of their homes.
The Snowdens lived in at least five homes along the Potomac. Isaac and his wife Anna lived at Wellington, now the home of the American Horticultural Society. They later moved to an adjacent home, Riverview. William and his wife Elizabeth lived at Arcturus which became the guest house for a larger home, Andalusia. Stacey and his wife Sarah lived at Collingwood, which current residents of the community probably remember for its library, museum and sledding hill, open to the public until 2016. While Riverview, Andalusia and Arcturus were demolished in the later part of the twentieth century to make room for more modern homes, Wellington and Collingwood still stand. These two homes were built before the Snowdens arrived and have rich histories before and after brothers’ ownership. While both homes are listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites, that distinction does not limit or restrict what a homeowner can do with their property. The current owners of Collingwood have applied for a permit to regrade the property which would involve demolition of the mansion.