Wikipedia
Stoneleigh may mean the following places:
- Stoneleigh, Queensland, Australia
- Stoneleigh, Surrey, England
- Stoneleigh Historic District, Towson, Maryland, USA
- Stoneleigh (Stanleytown, Virginia), USA, the former abode of Governor Thomas B. Stanley
- Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, England
- Stoneleigh (Charleston, West Virginia), listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984
Stoneleigh, also known as the Charles E. Ward House or Ruffner Payne House, is a historic home located at Charleston, West Virginia. It was built in 1917 as the residence of Charles E. Ward, a leading West Virginia industrialist.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 as part of the South Hills Multiple Resource Area.
Stoneleigh, the former abode of Governor Thomas B. Stanley, began its construction in 1929 and it was completed in 1932. It was built in the Tudor Revival-style and crafted out of stone from the nearby Smith River. Stanley inhabited this 25-room mansion until his death in 1970 and his kids then took ownership of the home. In 1980, the Stanley family made a generous donation of 1.2 million dollars of the 1.5 building to Ferrum College, leaving the college 300,000 dollars left to the statement for the Estate.
In 1993 Bill and Barbara Topa had plans on making Stoneleigh into a four-star lodging and dining facility when they purchased the home in 1993. The Topa’s plan did not get completed, and in 1998 Kevin and Whitney Witasick bought Stoneleigh for 800,000. The couple’s ownership of the estate was cut short when Mr. Witasack was charged with tax evasion, tax perjury, and failing to file a tax return when he lied about using the home for business purposes. In 2010, Stoneleigh was again sold but this time to Citimortgage, a New York mortgage company, for 1.12 million dollars. When Citimortgage purchased the grounds, a North Carolina liability company filed a lawsuit against the New York company, claiming they breached contracts with the company to buy the Estate. Stoneleigh Estate is now owned by Stoneleigh Estate, LLC a North Carolina Corporation with ties to the Va area.