Jerry Falwell’s Office Preserved Just Like the Day He Died, and Now You Can Take a Tour
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, May 19, 2008
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- (8) comments so far
Chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. said his father was always proud that the mansion, which the university purchased in the late 1970s, was the home of Carter Glass — a newspaper publisher and politician from Lynchburg who served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Woodrow Wilson.
The mansion was built in 1923 and never really lent itself as a school administration building, said Falwell. For years it served as the office of President A. Pierre Guillerman before Falwell and Falwell Jr. moved offices there.
Restoring the elder Falwell’s office, which mansion host Nancy Stanley said was most likely a parlor, is a worthwhile effort, Falwell Jr. said.
“All of the family agreed it was the best thing to do,” he said.
Falwell’s ancestors were dairy farmers and competitors with Glass, who also ran a dairy farm — which Falwell said the campus now sits on. He said he has many good memories of the land and of spending the night in a barn while in the sixth grade.
“The whole time I was growing up we’d come out and ride horses,” said Falwell.
The mansion, also known as Lynchburg’s Montview, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a state landmark. The elder Falwell often used a Franklin Roosevelt quote when giving tours, calling Glass the “last unreconstructed rebel.”
“Dad got a kick out of telling people that,” he said.
After Falwell Jr. moved his own office to North Campus over the summer, the mansion has become solely a tourist site. Upper-level rooms have been converted to become a bed and breakfast for special guests of the university. Other rooms are under restoration to look as they did when Glass lived there during the 1920s.
Falwell Jr.’s wife, Becki, said the first guests, friends of hers, stayed there this past weekend — Liberty’s 35th commencement. The old Carter kitchen is where guests are served a continental breakfast, with Falwell and Glass pictures and memorabilia mixed in together throughout the house.
Stanley said the mansion had five bathrooms in a time when most people didn’t have indoor plumbing, and cost $60,000 to build.
His office and a conference room next door are covered with books, award plaques, pictures of family and friends and of sports shrines — including the New York Yankees.
Stanley said she often gets boos when she gives tours based on his taste in sports.
“He was a Dallas Cowboys fan,” she said. “You could stay in here for an hour and absorb many things about him.”
The home also has a recently attached garage, called the “bat cave,” where Falwell could park his truck. Students often would swarm him and the family eventually decided he needed isolated parking.
Becki Falwell said the office is where her oldest son, Trey, now an LU student, spent many hours in between classes. The family doesn’t charge for the tours and believes it is a good way to keep memories of Falwell alive, she said.
“He liked history,” she said. “Just like my Jerry — they were always proud of their roots. He always had a deep, deep love for the mountains and the land.”
Falwell Jr. said the family plans to mark the one-year anniversary of his passing quietly, with a visit to the gravesite, in the mansion’s front lawn.Thomas Road Baptist Church has no services planned today; the church had a special viewing this past Sunday evening of a sermon Falwell recorded a few days before he died.
Stanley said she is up to the task of giving as many as she can.
“This is an interesting way to spend my retirement,” she said. “I’m enjoying it.”
According to NewsAdvance.com, Jerry Falwell's family wants to make sure his office in the Carter Glass Mansion, where he spent the last 16 years of his life, stays just as it was when he died. Tours of his office and the mansion itself began in April.
To honor Falwell’s life, the lights in his office are never turned off.
Tours are available at the Carter Glass Mansion from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and by appointments on weekends.
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Pastor Dan on Mon, May 19, 2008
I highly recommend Macel Falwell’s new book on Dr. Falwell’s life… it will help many of you who nevrer knew him to better understand him and see who he really was. Awesome read!
Pastor Dan on Mon, May 19, 2008
sorry about “nevrer” should be never - it’s Monday and I cheated in typing class in HS and am still reaping the consequences…. http://www.mondaymorninginsight.com/images/smileys/smile.gif
Shane Moffitt on Mon, May 19, 2008
America has museums that honor everything from cows to cars. So it warms my heart to hear of a church that holds such fond memories of their pastor, that they have turned his study into a museum. It is an honor to tread where saints have trod. And the fact that he was a Dallas Cowboy fan, only makes the experience that much richer.
Jan on Mon, May 19, 2008
I don’t know, I think it’s a little weird.
Is this something HE would want?
Shane Moffitt on Mon, May 19, 2008
Jan, I am sure your right. He probably would not have seen the benefit of this endeavor. However, a few blocks from my home, is a 2 story house that was built in the 1800’s. The city has spared no expense in its painstaking restoration of each room with the exact furniture from that time era. And all this work & expense was to preserve the home of a wealthy businessman that was not known for his philanthropic interests. I for one, would love to visit Dr. Falwell’s study and experience the atmosphere in which he spent time with God.
Jan on Tue, May 20, 2008
Hmmm maybe.
I think if I died and people wanted to make a museum out of my office LOL that would be scary btw, I would rather they sell everything off and use it for missions.
Charles E. Whisnant on Wed, May 21, 2008
Didn’t JFK have a eternal light burning? While Jerry would say now that he is in heaven, its all about God, not about me, please turn off the lights.
But I do believe its neat to see this happening at Liberty and TRBC
Jerry never say himself as anything but a servant of Christ.
Charles
Home Office Security on Fri, May 23, 2008
Nicely done, great article and image
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