Verdant Lawn

Alexander Nicholson has spent nearly a decade at Verdant Lawn, and has developed a special relationship not only with the owners, but also with the architects, designers, tradespeople, and on-site staff that continue to bring so much magic to this place.

The main house at Verdant Lawn farm represents the pinnacle of residential construction in Virginia, overlooking 165 acres of rolling foothills with panoramic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The house is bold, strong, and modern, but with traditional Norman-French influences. A steep hipped roof with dramatically flared eaves shelters the central mass of the house, like a medieval hall. From the entrance court, the house opens directly into an over-scaled central living and dining area, framed at one end by the largest and most impressive fireplace Alexander Nicholson has ever constructed. Across the living area, three towering windows frame the view of the Blue Ridge. The design is a classic example of what the architecture firm McAlpine House is best known for: a modern take on European romanticism.

Every room is special. A vacuum elevator connects a stone wine cellar to a top-floor smoking room with black walls and ceilings. The study features a 20-foot built-in desk nested into three walls of square-paned glass. The upstairs bedroom suites open onto parapet-walled balconies that face the view. Every material choice was an intentional balance between ancient and modern. Slate, patinated copper, aged wood, sandstone walls, cast stone trim, and iron window frames, stone flooring, and veined marble were sourced from around the world.

In addition to building the main house, Alexander Nicholson restored several original houses and barns around the farm. We constructed a custom wood and stone bridge, built a timber-framed cattle barn, as well as an event barn. Our carpenters built custom wooden docks and walkways; each plank was individually tapered to create the gentle curves that sweep along the edges of the fishing pond.