Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 3, 1991 TAG: 9102040392
SECTION: HOMES PAGE: D-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: BERRYVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Richard Byrd, one of the senator's three sons, and his wife, Helen, have decided to place the estate with a Sotheby's International Realty office in nearby Middleburg. The house has been in the family for 61 years.
"It took me a long time to make up my mind" to sell, but "we can't very well divide this house between three people," Byrd said. The couple has three children, Richard Byrd Jr., Lucy Byrd Dorick and William Benton Byrd.
Years ago, while the elder Byrd was in the U.S. Senate, Rosemont was the center of many social and political functions.
Guests included John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson during their presidencies, and Franklin Roosevelt and Richard Nixon before they became president.
Helen Byrd agreed that the decision to sell the 80-acre estate was a tough one.
"We had a family get-together," she said. "They all agreed that we should sell it. They felt very comfortable about that. Let's face it - they would have to sell the place.
"I've seen this before, people fighting over their inheritance. We didn't want that to possibly happen."
The manor house was built in 1811 by George Norris, high sheriff of Clarke County. Byrd Sr. bought it in 1929.
In 1840 an immense Greek Revival portico - 70 by 20 feet - was added to the eastern facade with 10 Doric columns. The estate's large tract of woods and landscaped grounds contain English boxwoods, dogwood trees, azaleas and magnolia trees.
The house contains 25 rooms and nine baths.
Moving from Rosemont "is like uprooting a big old tree," Helen Byrd said.
by CNB