Page 13 - Glenfiddich Booklet

The Fire at Harrison Hall
Thanksgiving weekend in 1979 while the boarding house tenants were gone for the holiday, a fire struck at Harrison Hall. A tenant had left an electric blanket on while away and it shorted, smoldering all weekend in the master bedroom. When the first tenant returned to the house and opened the door, the increase in oxygen accelerated the fire and it exploded upward. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The rooms on the second floor sustained the majority of the damage.
Following the fire, the current owner, Mr. Trone, wanted to tear down Harrison Hall and build condos on the property. The town of Leesburg denied his request in an effort to preserve the estate. In response to the towns decision Mr. Trone stopped paying taxes on the property. Then in 1980 Lou LeHane purchased the grand estate in a tax auction and restored the house to its original beauty. It was at this time Harrison Hall was renamed the Glenfiddich House.
During the restoration, a small chest was found in rafters of the same third-floor bedroom where more than one hundred years ago General Lee’s lieutenants were on lookout for solider movement in Leesburg. In the chest a diary and uncut sheets of Confederate $5 notes were found. Two of the famed bills still reside in the home’s log cabin, while the chest, diary and remaining currency are housed at the Confederate Museum in Richmond, Virginia.
1963 John F. Kennedy Assassinated
1966 James Dickey Lives at Harrison Hall
1969
Neil Armstrong Walks the Moon
1972 Deliverance Film Debuts
1973 Vietnam War Ends
1979 Fire at Harrison Hall
1980 LeHane Family Purchases Harrison Hall
1991 Gulf War Begins
1991 The World Wide Web Debuts
1993
Miles Family Purchases Glenfiddich House