History Through Eugene’s Eyes:
Several of Eugene’s prints have historical significance in Winchester, VA & surrounding counties. He likes to photograph the area as well as the main subject to get a feel for the history of the spot. Quite often he will go back to the chosen site at different times of the day to record where the shadows fall, which give his paintings that unique Eugene B. Smith look. His interest in the history of our area compel him to research each site before he paints: to absorb the history of it and perhaps to impart that history through his brush into the painting.
I encourage you to see this history through Eugene’s eyes by viewing these particular prints: Full Moon, Signal Knob, Piedmont Station in Delaplane VA, Poor House, Rose Hill and Glen Burnie Springhouse(photo)
In 1738 Colonel James Wood, who later founded Winchester Virginia, built a log and stone home which he called Glen Burnie. This was replaced in 1794 with the present day brick building by his son Robert Wood. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Glen Burnie is a working farm and the land connected to the house amounts to about 250 acres. The site has numerous springs and the town run crosses the property about 100 feet northeast of the house. There are numerous outbuildings on the site. All of them are new except for the spring house. This original structure has limestone walls laid in a rubble pattern. The gable roof is wood frame and covered with wood shingles. It is located east of the house between the Town Run and Amherst Street.
By the 1950s, the Glen Burnie property came to be wholly owned by Wood descendant Julian Wood Glass Jr. (1910–1992). He preserved and renovated his ancestral home from 1958 to 1959. Then, over the rest of his life, he and his partner R. Lee Taylor (1924– 2000) transformed the house into a country retreat surrounded by six acres of formal gardens. After Glass’s death and as a condition of his will, the house and gardens opened to the public on a seasonal basis in 1997.