
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 18, 1995                   TAG: 9504180131
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LEESBURG                                LENGTH: Short

ANTI-CHANGE SUIT BASED ON VIEW

In their view of history, Richard and Sally Rogers see only a lovely lake, mountains and forest from their restored 18th-century home.

The couple claims a new house planned across the lake violates the state's historic designation rules because it interferes with the view.

``I was shocked,'' said Rogers, 63, who has lived at the Loudoun County manor house since 1990. ``All of a sudden it looked like Scranton, Pa., where they have all those strip mines.''

The Rogerses paid $2.7 million for their home in unspoiled surroundings near the Blue Ridge Mountains.

William and Margaret Hornbeck admired the view, too, and bought a lake lot for their planned 7,000-square-foot dream home.

When a bulldozer began clearing trees 300 yards from his kitchen window a few months ago, Rogers began a legal struggle that lands in Richmond this week.

The Rogers house was once the home of George Washington's chaplain, and both couples' lots are part of a federal, state and local historic landmark.

The Rogerses are not challenging the Hornbecks' right to build, or even the design of the planned three-story Victorian house.

Instead, they are making the unusual argument that the property's historic designation forbids any obstruction of their view.

by CNB