About

The Holland-Duncan House has served as a focal point for the Hales Ford community in Franklin County since its construction in the 1830s by plantation owner Asa Holland. The two-story, Flemish-bond brick Holland-Duncan House features molded brick cornices, gauged jack arches over the first-story windows, and Federal-style interior detailing. Asa Holland served as Hales Ford's federal postmaster before the Civil War, and during the war he served the Confederacy in the same capacity. A small frame dependency on the grounds may represent the Hales Ford Post Office. After the Civil War, William Duncan married Holland's daughter, Sallie, and the couple operated private academies at this property from 1874 to 1895. William Duncan became a prominent two-term superintendent of Franklin County schools in the late 1800s. Modern commercial development associated with Smith Mountain Lake has transformed the Hales Ford community, but the Holland-Duncan House survives much as it was historically.