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Carlheim

Leesburg, US

Carlheim

Carlheim (also called Paxton) is a mansion located in the northeast part of Leesburg, Virginia. It was constructed around 1872 for Pennsylvania industrialist Charles R. Paxton (1816–1889) and his wife, Rachel, who continued to live there until her death in December 1921. When constructed, it sat on

over 760 acres (3.1 km2) roughly bounded on the north end by the Red Rock Wilderness Overlook Regional Park, the Ball's Bluff Battlefield and the Potomac River. In accordance with Mrs. Paxton's will, the buildings and 50 surrounding acres were preserved and placed in a charitable trust to benefit "needy children." Designed by New York architect Henry Dudley, the nearly 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) 32-room Second Empire building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 for its architectural and local significance. In 2004, the property became a non-contiguous part of the Leesburg Historic District. The estate of Mr. and Mrs. Paxton was originally accessed via a long, tree-lined driveway off King Street. Today, that entrance is gone and there are two more contemporary entrances; Wildman Street (normally closed) and the new main entrance that was completed in 2009 at 601...

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