The year 2009 marked the 150th year of this iconic structure—the Sutherlin’s opulent residence for just over half a century, reincarnated as Danville’s Public Library for 45 years, and adapted most recently as the Danville Museum for almost four decades.

Each Christmas season, Museum members and staff decorate the historic public rooms of the Sutherlin Mansion in holiday style reminiscent of the mid-to-late 19th century—a time when celebrating Yuletide with festive trappings echoed the exuberance of the Victorian Era itself. This year’s observance of a Victorian Christmas spans almost a month, and not limited to traditional seasonal greenery and trees with Victorian ornaments. Whatever the season, the Danville Museum of Fine Arts & History offers visitors rich experiences both in the period rooms of the historic house, as well as galleries devoted to art from all periods, plus special events, classes, and educational community outreach for all ages.

By 1859, when research confirms that William T. Sutherlin and his family were occupying their new home, the Italian Villa-style dwelling was the most auspicious house in town. Today, it remains the architectural focal point for Danville’s gracious Main Street, having set the tone for the city’s post Civil War residential development in the fashionable West End. It reflects not only Sutherlin’s achievement as a banker, tobacconist and entrepreneur, but embodies as well his importance during the War Between the States when he achieved the rank of Major as Danville’s Quartermaster. As the Executive Mansion for President Jefferson Davis during his final week as Commander in Chief of the Confederacy, April 3-10, 1865, the house secured Danville’s rightful claim as the last Capital of the Confederacy. As the object of a fund raising campaign in 1912, when wives and daughters of Confederate veterans—and the veterans themselves—raised money to save this landmark from the specter of demolition, the mansion witnessed the birth of the historic preservation movement in Danville. Thanks to their foresight, the mansion and Danville Museum’s collections of history and art remain dynamic teaching tools and a tourist mecca for thousands each year.