For a hint of old English architecture, homeowners are turning to gargoyles as a finial decoration on fence posts or in gardens. Their popularity wanes though, according to Jonathan Kavalier, outdoor ornament specialist at Merrifield Garden Center. Gargoyles can sit around the supply area for months at a time or they all get purchased at once and it will be some time before they get restocked.
"People usually buy them in pairs and put them on pillars. It's seen as an old English style, a lot of people try to get that," Kavalier said.
"Halloween is a big time for people to buy them," he added.
STARING DOWN from a rooftop perch or a gate is what gargoyles do. Nothing more and nothing less, unless the gargoyle is in the lakeside townhouse community of Moorings Cluster in Reston.
Although the owners of the gargoyle moved out, they left the part human, part-animal, part-medieval dragon stone carving behind for everyone to enjoy.
"It's just weird," said Mary Buffs, a resident a few doors down and former member of the cluster committee.
"The whole neighborhood's upset about it. They belong on churches in Europe, not in contemporary neighborhoods," Buffs said.
The gargoyle in question is no more though. The recent snow caused a tree to fall and the owner, who chose not to give her name, removed it along with the tree. She wasn't happy though, and felt some pressure from the homeowners association.
"I thought it was very attractive. I was told the gargoyle had to go," she said.
GARGOYLES HAVE been around for centuries though, and they're not likely to go away.
Walter S. Arnold, of Chicago, is a stone carver that specializes in gargoyles. They encourage the imagination, according to Arnold.
"They sit on the edge of fantasy, mystery and imagination. Gargoyles really evolved in the middle ages, part-human, part-animal. I know that some people get very attached to them," Arnold said.
Arnold started with a chisel in his hand at age 12 and has now shipped them to 48 states and 10 different countries. His original stone carvings range from $350 - $10,000 and his cast resin statues, using molds of his stone carvings, range from $29 - $350. Arnold has traveled all over Europe, encountering gargoyles of every type.
"I like to think of mine as a little different, unique," he said.
According to Arnold, the root word to gargoyle is "gargle," which comes from a French word "gargouille" or throat. A true gargoyle is a waterspout, but the word is now used to describe any unusual carved creature that are also called a "grotesque." Some gargoyles in ancient Rome were built into part of the gutters channeling the water out so the water would not seep down the wall.
Kavalier is aware of the difference.
"Some of the ones that I sell have a pipe coming out of the mouths," he said.
Leesburg resident Eva Grzeskwiak is originally from Poland. In Europe, she remembers seeing gargoyles on the old buildings in Prague.
"You see a lot of them but they are old. They say they protect the house," Grzeskwiak said.
Gargoyles of note in this country include gargoyles on the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. and six large gargoyles on the ledges of the Old Firehouse in Philadelphia.