Maplewood-Villa Nuova

Unlike most historical buildings, this house is famous because it was destroyed. The Maplewood-Villa Nuova estate was built in 1870 by architect John Shipman. In its century of existence, it housed famous residents like Brigadier General William McKee Dunn (of Dunn Loring) and Woodrow Wilson (though the latter has not been confirmed). However, it was after the house was destroyed that things got interesting. It was in perfectly good condition, so it was a mystery as to why anyone would want to demolish it. The running theory is that it was destroyed expressly for the purpose of not becoming a historic landmark. The logic was, if it was designated as historically significant, it would stay there forever and prohibit any further development of the land.