Friends of Popodicon to Host Open House December 7

The community is welcome to visit Shepherd University’s historic Popodicon during a Holiday Open House on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Popodicon, the business residence of Shepherd’s president, is located at 109 Shepherd Grade Road. The home will be beautifully decorated for the holidays by the Friends of Popodicon.

Popodicon is a three-story Colonial Revival house designed by architect Stuart H. Edmonds of Winchester, Virginia, and constructed by S.A. Westenhaver of Martinsburg in 1907–1908 for Henry W. Potts, a civil engineer who came to Shepherdstown to survey a section of the Norfolk and Western Railroad. Potts met and married a local woman, Eleanor Powell, and the family settled in Jefferson County. The house was named in honor of Delaware Indian Chief Popodick, who was said to be buried on the grounds of the Potts family’s ancestral home in Pennsylvania. The gardens were designed by noted Philadelphia landscape architect Oglesby Paul. The state of West Virginia purchased the 126-acre estate for Shepherd in 1964.

For the past several years, the Friends of Popodicon have led efforts to restore and maintain the house and gardens. Interior improvements include a complete renovation of the kitchen, laundry room, master bathroom, and powder room. The historic garden beds have been restored and planted with pollinator-friendly vegetation.