Sweet Briar House

Sweet Briar House. The Founders' Heritage at Sweet Briar College. , This Italianate villa was the home of College founder Indiana Fletcher Williams from sometime in the 1840s until her death in 1900. When the family acquired the property, it featured a modest modest brick house known as Locust Ridge. The Fletchers renamed it Sweetbriar for the wild roses that bloomed nearby., Originally built in the early part of the 19th century as a six-room, T-shaped farmhouse, the Fletchers remodeled their home in 1851 in a more fashionable style, adding the arcaded double porch and symmetrical towers. They also established the boxwood plantings that remain today., In her will, Indiana Fletcher Williams directed that a college be established here in memory of her only daughter, Daisy, who died at the age of 16. Sweet Briar College was chartered in 1901. In the early years, Sweet Briar House served as the president's residence, faculty apartments and the post office. After a fire in 1927, the towers were rebuilt to an even height. In 2001, the Garden Club of Virginia began to restore the boxwood garden and created the brick entrance court, which was dedicated in 2005., Sweet Briar remains the home of the College president and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places., The Sweet Briar Museum, around the corner, is open by appointment and contains artifacts and information about the founding family and the history of Sweet Briar College.