Located in the Winchester Historic District, Hawthorne is a handsome transitional Late Georgian and Federal-style residence constructed of stone. Partially built on an 18th-century foundation, the main block of the house dates to about 1811 and was expanded with a rear wing around 1840. The five-acre property features a ca. 1816 Federal-style springhouse. The property’s Old Town Spring was an early municipal water distribution system purchased by the City of Winchester in 1840 and believed to be one of the earliest such operations in Virginia. Hawthorne also is important as the one-time home of Civil War-era diarist Cornelia Peake McDonald. Her diary and recollections are a significant source of first-hand information about the impact of the war on the Shenandoah Valley’s civilian population, particularly its women.