This palace is absolutely STUNNING. It's such a shame it's fallen into such disrepair. Each room had its own unique feel, and the artwork and detail was breathtaking. The best part by far was the stained glass window. The gardens were probably once beautiful but it's been decaying so much over the years that all you see are just sad remnants. WARNING: if you have severe asthma, do NOT visit. My father has moderate asthma and was only able to stay inside for about fifteen minutes before his throat started to close up due to the must. The place itself smells musty- not a BAD or rotten smell but just old. There's a feeling of immense love and sadness in the house and it's imperative that you learn the rich history of the house to truly appreciate it. The inside of the palace is only only open to the public on certain days of the year and not all the rooms are open. I was very satisfied with what rooms were open. read more

Taking a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway or Skyline Drive? I suggested taking a slight detour on Afton Mountain to travel back in time to 1912 with a visit to Swannanoa Palace, a white marble mansion that was a bit of an albatross for James and Sally May Dooley. While the Maymont Estate in Richmond is a much more expansive visitor experience today, this hidden gem, modeled after the Villa de Medici in Rome, is certainly worth a stop, either on one of their open house weekends ($6 fee) or just to see in person from the outside. The real belle of the ball is inside - the 4,000 piece Tiffany stained glass window of Mrs. Dooley, which is a backdrop to the grand central staircase and artistic domed ceiling. There are plenty of interesting fireplaces, doorways and tower views. You will certainly notice the musty presence of mold throughout the building with various walls and ceilings falling apart. The grounds include some terraced gardens and somewhat restricted views of the surrounding area. It is a shame the interior of the building is in such a state of disrepair and the property hasn't been kept up, as it could be an amazing special event space. Still, people apparently elect to have weddings there, even though there is no running water and everything would have to be brought in. There is a no trespassing sign on the front door, so the inside is only accessible on one of the special open house days. The grounds are easy to walk around and being on top of the mountain it has a nice temperature, at least 5-10 degrees below of Charlottesville. Visiting should certainly be a part of any UVA student's bucket list, much like watching the sunrise/sunset from the peak of the quick Humpback Rocks hike. read more

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I felt like I was really experiencing myself in another era in this ethereal place. Maybe it was the mist and the tall lined trees leading to the mansion and huge English like Gardens. If you want to experience what an old estate in England was like, but can't afford the trip, this is worth it and there are beautiful vineyards on the way here as well. It has a cool history and if you're into the paranormal (and that's fine with me) then this a fun place to explore that as well. It should be in one of those Weird America books read more

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This place is amazing. The history of the place itself sparks my interest. And there is so much to see on the property. They have No Trespassing signs up. Mrs. Dulaney gives tours of the place on certain weekends. You would have to check the Facebook Page for this place to see a list of Tour Dates. The view is beautiful. read more

The house is still in disrepair and very dusty; could see spider webs and spiders around. The outside needs a good pressure wash. The tour really should've been 45 minutes ; the first hour was in one room with paint peeling, no wall paper no AC. It would've been better to have a shorter tour and walk around the rooms. The tour guide talked about a lot of irrelevant things and was telling a story about her life mixed in with details about the history of the house and details of the house. At times the tour was very very painful. read more

Disclaimer: I have not yet done the tour. Swanannoa, a marble palace from the end of the Gilded Age. The whole house is built of marble and you can see hints of what it was like in its glory days. It is beautiful! It has fallen into a state of disrepair, but still classy. I am hoping the current owners will begin conservation efforts, especially with the funds they collect using it as a wedding venue. It would be a shame to let this Architectural gem deteriorate any further. I am planning on going back to do an interior tour. I will revise my review then if needed. read more

If you like history or old beautiful buildings then you should make a stop here. Located between Afton and Wayneboro this crumbling marble mansion is set against a beautiful views of mountains and valley. The entire building appears to be made of marble. Inside you can see the grandeur of the former times. They do small tours of the mansion but it does not appear anyone is actually fixing anything. I loved the large Tiffany glass window. It catches the sunlight brilliantly. At the back of the building there are former terraced gardens and a large fountain. It truly must have been breath taking at one time. At the right of the gardens is a tower. It seems somewhat out of place which makes Swannanoa all the more interesting. read more

Swannanoa - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Afton, Virginia

The open house is a complete ripoff. You can see a few rooms, but basically everything is closed off. Owner would not refund our money. STAY AWAY. read more

Very much an amateur operation. Very little of the house is open. The outside (gardens?) is in depressing disrepair. The "tour," which is an hour long, mostly consists of you sitting in a room listening to the owner lady rattling on about things often only vaguely related to the house (you'll hear about her problems with past employees, for example), and getting distracted by her dog. If you come a few minutes early before the 11:30 AM (?!) opening time you'll feel very uneasy about the ominous No Trespassing signs plastered around the entrance and parking area. read more

I went to this place this weekend because they were having an open house. It was six dollars for adults (children under 12 are free). An open house usually means you can view the house or the majority of it. In this case, while the palace has 40 something bedrooms you can view exactly 0 of them. It has, I believe, two kitchens and you can view exactly 0 of them. You can view probably 10% of the house in total. --also, this is not really a palace anymore, it's more of the remains of what once was a palace. It is truly in a state of disrepair. A couple of the main entry rooms still are interesting, but as you walk even on the main floor it is an absolute disaster. The rooms are empty. The fabric or wallpaper has decayed and fallen off the walls. I'm not trying to be mean, and I'm not saying that the house needs updating, I'm saying that this building is reminiscent of Greek ruins. Take a trip out back to a small structure that might've been a servants quarters, and you'll see inside the rock structure with broken windows a dirty mattress on the floor, and liquor bottles strewn across the lawn. ....Bring a little imagination, and as you walk through the house and around the grounds you can imagine that in the 1930s this place must have been magnificent. However, this place really needs to be renamed "palace remains", not palace. And lastly, the open house is not well set up like "come see the remains of what was once a magnificent palace." There is no tour. It's more like the owner allows someone to set up a table and let people into part of the house. No one's bothered to attend to whether there's broken glass on the floor that a kid might get cut on. There was a large dead bird on the floor in the Persian room. read more

One of the most beautiful spectacular places I've ever seen!! A beautiful blue ridge parkway with mountains and views highly recommended old beautiful historic castle..the grounds are beautiful gardens galore just a wonderful beautiful place to visit! remarkable and uncomparable!!! I wish they would plant more flowers there! read more

Definitely a fun place to visit on a Saturday afternoon with beautiful weather. The history is pretty fascinating, although I think it could have been condensed a bit at the very beginning of the tour -- it was about twenty minutes in one spot talking about names and not really the house itself. The house is definitely run down, but still has some fascinating things to look at and learn about. The stained glass window is worth the visit, alone. I would have loved more information about conservation or upkeep, volunteering, etc. I hope they will work to restore more of the building. read more

We had spent the afternoon exploring the breweries on the mountain and decided to stop on the way home to Swannanoa Palace, as a friend had recommended checking it out. Before we went, we looked it up online and the operating hours were listed on their website, so we decided we had enough time to stop in. We pulled into the parking lot and got out to walk around. There were porta-potties out and several cars in the parking lot, so we assumed it was safe to step out and look around. We looked around for about 5 mins (not touching anything or trying to get in the actual mansion since the doors were locked), along with a few other visitors. Once we reached the courtyard, a woman came up to us and said that it was private property, and that her husband owned the place and that technically we were not allowed on the premises. She did, however, tell us that the place would be open to the public the next weekend. We did not hear or see her say anything to any other visitors. Had we known that it was closed to the public, we would not have stopped, but since their hours were clearly posted online and we saw no "no trespassing" sign on the way in, we figured it would be a great ending to our day. It instead put a sour ending to our otherwise perfect afternoon in beautiful Virginia. On a side note, I'm not quite sure how they expect to be open in a week seeing as the entire place is in shambles and looks like a dump. read more