October 15, 2019 —On October 18, 2006, a dedication ceremony
was held to officially open the newly-restored
Sunnyside House, at that time and since a jewel
of the Kalex campus. Speakers included
Farris Hotchkiss, at that time chairman of
Kalex’s Board of Directors, and Fred Bartenstein,
who with his wife Isabel had given to the
Lexington Retirement Community the 85-acre
Sunnyside Farm upon which Kendal was built.
The oldest part of Sunnyside House was
built in the 1790’s, and it has been added onto
through the years by a succession of owners.
Many generous donors, including the Bartenstein
family, well-wishers in the Rockbridge
area, and residents of Kendal, have made
possible the restoration work (a continuing
project), the furnishings, the sidewalks, the
patio, and much else. Resident volunteers
have overseen the care of Sunnyside since its
2006 opening.
Sunnyside serves as our guest house and is
often filled up, especially around holidays. In
addition, it is a popular venue for meetings,
receptions, and other gatherings. It is on the
National Register of Historic Places; it was open
for the Garden Club of Virginia’s Historic
Garden Week in 2013 (sponsored in Lexington
by the Blue Ridge Garden Club); and it has
twice been a stop on the Lexington/Rockbridge
Studio Tour, in 2014 and 2016.
Tours of Sunnyside House will be available
as part of Kendal’s “Trinkets and Treasures”
Antiques Appraisal Fair on Saturday, October
29. kalex.kendal.org/events
Originally published in the October 2016 Residents’ Newsletter