Story by Phyllis Speidell
Photos by John H. Sheally II

Have you ever walked into an unfamiliar house and felt instantly at home? Wildwood, one of the most recognized landmark homes in Western Branch, generates that same ambiance, thanks to the Dodson/Anderson family.

Set on five acres along the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River, adjacent to the Hodges Ferry Bridge, the circa 1860 two-story farmhouse wraps visitors in a warm hug of hospitality and unpretentious charm. Formality is not an option with five youngsters, a llama, a miniature pony, a horse or two and up to half a dozen dogs romping around Wildwood’s grounds and two houses.

The farmhouse is home to Tom Anderson, senior director of investments for Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. and the Western Branch High School tennis coach, Alison Dodson Anderson, owner of the A. Dodson’s boutiques, and the five Anderson children — Kate, Cort, Alice, Smith and Ruthy.

“This is a fluid situation,” is how the Andersons describe the lifestyle of two working parents, four active children, a teenager and a crammed datebook, the family survival guide for the them and their nanny, Laurie Creech.

Alison’s mother, Alice Dodson, lives steps away in the second house, a riverfront cottage that she says dates from the Prohibition era when it was a party house.

Back in 1809, Brigadier Gen. John Hodges bought 100 acres along the river, named it “Wildwood “ and built a two-room house there. According to local historian Raymond L. Harper, Hodges later sold Wildwood to a truck farmer named Coffman who built the bigger farmhouse — four rooms, two up and two down. A bank foreclosed on the property during the Depression and rented the big house to a man named Taylor who ran a gambling club there for a number of years.

In 1939, John Kirchmier, a local merchant and Alice Dodson’s father, bought part of Wildwood. Family lore says Kirchmier remodeled the house and discovered a cache of cash hidden in the fireplace.

Alice Dodson grew up at Wildwood, along with her two brothers, her twin, John Jr. and Stan. Wildwood was an active farm raising produce, sheep and hogs.

Alice met a dental student, William Dodson, and their romance bloomed into marriage. In 1963, they bought Wildwood from her parents and raised their five children – William, Jr., John, Forrest, Tim and Alison — there, much as Alice had grown up.
The family expanded the house and added a wall mural, by Portsmouth artist J. Robert Burnell, depicting the Hodges Ferry that carried traffic across the Elizabeth until the first bridge opened in 1928.

As the house grew, so did its reputation for hospitality. Both Alice and Alison remember that Wildwood was always ready for a party. That tradition continues with school reunions (both Alison and Tom are Western Branch High School alumni), charity events, and end-of-season parties for the youngsters’ sports teams.

The Anderson Easter egg hunt started a decade ago with 3,000 hidden Easter eggs and 30 children and grew to 12,000 eggs and more than 100 children. In 1980, the Garden Club of Virginia featured Wildwood on its annual spring tour and has included the property on its upcoming 2017 tour, as well.

“We know it’s a gift to live here, and we intend to share that gift,” Alison says.

An annual — and eagerly anticipated — Wildwood tradition is the “Merry Christmas,” spelled out in large illuminated letters across the yard facing Portsmouth Boulevard.

John Kirchmier first put up the sign in the 1970s as his holiday gift to the community.

“When the sign goes up, we all know it’s Christmas time,” says family friend Kim Glover.

Wildwood is a landmark, a postcard of a simpler, more rural time, set within the busy Western Branch community, and the community feels a connection to the property. Occasionally someone in the family will glance out a window and see curious visitors strolling the yard.

Creech remembers a woman who knocked on the door to tell her “I think there is something wrong with your llama. He’s lying on the grass, and he doesn’t normally do that when I drive by in the mornings.”

Alison Anderson understands the connection.

“When I was 16, something inside of me clicked, and I knew this place would always pull me back,” she says.

It was a point she made when she began dating Tom Anderson, who grew up in the nearby Chadswyck Terrace neighborhood. She told him, “You know I am going to live and die here.”

Of all their children, perhaps Alice, 8, most shares that feeling.

Like her mother and grandmother, Alison says, “Alice is one with the property.”