Carlheim is a large Victorian country house, now within the boundaries of the incorporated town of Leesburg, dating from the 1870s, a period when few important dwellings were erected in Virginia because of the economic deprivation resulting from the Civil War. The thirty-two-room stone house, combining the Italian Villa style with the Second Empire mode, was designed by Henry C. Dudley of New York for Charles R. Paxton, a Pennsylvania industrialist. The interior is well appointed with stone mantels, plasterwork ceiling medallions, and a grand staircase. To assure comfort, the Loudoun County house was equipped with central heating, hot and cold running water, and carbide gas lighting. The mansard roof atop the tower was destroyed by lightning in recent years. Among the outbuildings is a peacock house. Known currently as the Paxton Child Development Center, the Carlheim property is now a preschool and day-care center.