Richard and Mary Clemmer House. 1927.

Two-story masonry single-family dwelling in an eclectic Tudor Revival style, constructed of random rubble stone walls and contrasting brick gables featuring intricate brick panels, selected stone details, and half-timbering. This sprawling house has an asymmetrical form, an arcaded side porch, multi-pane steel casement windows, a slate-shingle gable roof with a cross gable, and a massive exterior end random rubble stone chimney. The principal entry is defined by a recessed arched opening, and features a single-leaf wood and glass door. Richard Hogshead Clemmer, originally of Middlebrook, and his wife Mary Morris Hoge Clemmer, originally of Frankfort, Kentucky, moved to Waynesboro after the First World War. R. H. Clemmer first worked with the American Steel & Wire Co., then in 1925 he joined his uncle F. Percy Loth's Loth Stove Co. as vice president. General Electric purchased the company in 1930 but sold back to Clemmer and others the coal and wood stove works. Clemmer merged with the Rife Ram & Pump operation to form Rife-Loth Co., and later he developed a line of ornamental brass items that formed the mainstay of Virginia Metalcrafters. Mary Clemmer managed the office and traveled to New York on behalf of the company. Their 1927 house, designed by a California architect, was the first in the Forest Hills section, which the Clemmers developed. The rock came from Afton Mountain near Swannanoa, and landscape architect A. A. Farnham designed the gardens, which took forty-five years to perfect according to his plans (Frances Cook; James F. Cook Jr., owner).

Garden. 1927-1972. Multi-level pleasure garden designed by landscape architect A.A. Farnham and implemented in stages by the Clemmer family over several decades. The large, steeply sloped lot incorporates numerous terraces defined by rock retaining walls and staircases, a shallow pond, a paved patio and grill area, and numerous cutting gardens with choice peonies, roses, and other heirloom and ornamental plantings. Numerous mature trees dot the parcel, and a tall perimeter hedge of American boxwood shelters the entire grounds from the adjoining streets.

National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form 2/4/02