The best representative of the wealth of the Gilded Age in Petersburg is this magnificent two-and-a-half-story brick house in the Poplar Lawn neighborhood. Laid out in 1809, Poplar Lawn was a southern extension of Robert Bolling Jr.'s development (see
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) and includes Central Park, which the city acquired in 1846. This house was built for the era's leading Southside attorney and Democratic Party leader, William McKenney. In his search for a sumptuous design, McKenney apparently overcame any reluctance he might have had to employ Waite, who was a Readjuster. For his political foe, Waite designed a fabulous house that included many of the era's fashionable elements, including a circular corner tower, an Eastlake front porch, extensive use of leaded and stained glass, ornamented terra-cotta recessed panels, and elaborately carved interior woodwork and fireplaces flanked by Italian tiles.