The Penn-Wyatt House Restoration

The Penn-Wyatt House Restoration The Penn-Wyatt House, also known as the Hoffman House, is a historic home in Danville, Virginia.

I finally found it! The Date and serial number. This carriage dates to 1893!😳😁❤️
07/28/2026

I finally found it! The Date and serial number. This carriage dates to 1893!😳😁❤️

WATER IS THE ENEMY! This very small leak leaves an innocuous puddle up against the side of the house, and dribbles towar...
07/27/2026

WATER IS THE ENEMY! This very small leak leaves an innocuous puddle up against the side of the house, and dribbles toward the garden. Unfortunately, it was left to have its way for over 30 years, rusting iron, staining and chipping away at the original tile. Never assume that small leak is a small problem... given enough time, a small leak can do big damage!

Thanks to Travis Hackworth, I have this great AI “photo” of Sallie Penn in her carriage in front of the Penn Wyatt house...
07/18/2026

Thanks to Travis Hackworth, I have this great AI “photo” of Sallie Penn in her carriage in front of the Penn Wyatt house!

Our adventure with the Penn carriage began, as many good stories do, over our regular Thursday morning coffee at Crema & Vine with Joyce Wilburn—longtime resident, collector of wonderfully obscure facts, and seemingly knowing every fascinating story in Danville.

On this particular Thursday, Joyce casually mentioned that Averett University was in possession of the original carriage once owned by the Penn family—the very carriage in which Mrs. Sallie Penn was said to promenade through town. Then she wondered aloud whether the university might ever consider selling it.

Joyce doesn’t just have remarkable ideas—she also has remarkable connections. Before long, she had introduced us to the right people, and our search led us to an unexpected destination: the airport. Yes, the airport. The carriage had been stored in an aircraft hangar, resting comfortably beside a beautiful little airplane.

The carriage itself was a darling little thing. It had been professionally restored decades earlier and was in exceptional condition, a testament to the care it had received over the years. But one question remained: was this truly the Penn family carriage?

The answer arrived several months later during the annual Garden Club tour, when I had the pleasure of meeting descendants of the Wyatt family. The Wyatts purchased the Penn House—and its contents—in the late nineteenth century. They confirmed that their father had commissioned the carriage’s restoration in the 1970s before donating it to Averett University. They even knew it was now being stored at the airport.

That was all the confirmation we needed.

After agreeing on a fair price with Averett, the carriage was finally ours. Nearly a century and a half after it first rolled away from the Penn House, it was coming home—to the very carriage house where it had once been kept. Thanks to Tim Younger Construction, picking it up was an absolute breeze!!!

Some moments in historic preservation feel almost too perfect to believe.This week, the original Penn Family horse–drawn...
07/16/2026

Some moments in historic preservation feel almost too perfect to believe.

This week, the original Penn Family horse–drawn carriage returned home.

Not just to the Penn-Wyatt house — but to the very carriage house where it once lived more than a century ago.

James Gabriel Penn built the house in 1976 after making his fortune as a to***co commission merchant during Danville’s remarkable post-Civil War boom. As his prosperity grew, so did the estate. In 1904, Penn even purchased the neighboring Lipscomb property, salvaged its bricks, and built the carriage house that still stands behind the mansion today.

The carriage itself was built by A. T. Demarest & Co., one of America’s Premier luxury carriage makers. Founded by Aaron T. Demarest in New York in 1860, the company became renowned for its exceptional craftsmanship and elegant custom coaches, serving many of the countries, wealthiest families during the Gilded Age. By the time this carriage was built, owning a Demarest wasn’t simply transportation – it was a statement of success, much like owning a Rolls-Royce a generation later.

It is remarkable to think that when Sallie Penn made her daily carriage rides through Danville in the late 1800s, this will have been the very carriage that carried her through the streets. Contemporary accounts described her as being known for her gracious entertaining, elegant style, and regular afternoon drives from the Penn-Wyatt House.

After decades, apart, seeing this Demarest carriage once again resting inside the carriage house built by James Penn is a powerful reminder that preservation isn’t just about saving buildings. It’s about reuniting the stories, the objects, and the people that gave those places life.

Every so often, history finds its way home!

07/16/2026

Many thanks to Younger Construction!!!

The ORIGINAL Penn carriage has returned home! This Demarest carriage was fully restored by the Wyatt family in the 1970s and subsequently donated to Averett College. We recently had the opportunity to purchase it and bring it home to the carriage house where it spent its early years! An AMAZING score for bringing back history!

Here it comes!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
07/16/2026

Here it comes!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Stay tuned, we have some incredibly exciting news about an antique, original to the home and the Penn Family, that is co...
07/09/2026

Stay tuned, we have some incredibly exciting news about an antique, original to the home and the Penn Family, that is coming back home to the Penn Wyatt House!!! A hint is in the photos…

First, a little history on our Carriage House behind the Penn Wyatt House… it was built in 1903 when the Penn Family purchased the home next-door. They proceeded to demolish the brick home that sat on the lot, and used the bricks from that home to build an addition to the Penn house as well as to build this elegant Carriage House. An interesting fact is that the home was identical to the next home on the block, 854 Main Street. They were built as twin homes owned by two brothers, built close enough so that they could each sit on their porches and share an evening drink together.

The Carriage House has a three bedroom apartment on the upper floor, and a spacious garage and workrooms on the lower floor.

One of these windows is the original, which needed minor repairs, the other two are reproductions from a vast pile of an...
06/07/2026

One of these windows is the original, which needed minor repairs, the other two are reproductions from a vast pile of antique glass — they were even able to match the center “jewel” in each window!!!♥️. The color matching is unrivaled!!! Studio J in Patterson NJ can work miracles!!! They are our new go-to for art glass restoration!!

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862 Main Street
Danville, VA
24541

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