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In
the early 1900s William L. Fulk purchased approximately sixty acres and started a dairy farm. Among the many original outbuildings
on the farm, a threequarter bank barn was moved to Middleburg, Virginia, and a carriage barn is currently being dismantled
for relocation. The riverstone pond on the property was used to keep milk cold before delivery. In the early 1970s Fulk’s
son Howard and his wife, Ellen, purchased the farm and began renovation. Reverend Fulk used the front room to perform weddings.
The Whitacres purchased the farm in 1995. Many rooms have been renovated, the latest being an entertainment room at the back
of the house. The Whitacres have used many unusual items to add interest throughout the house.
Shown
by The Olde Berkeley Garden Club.
2. Oakley Manor
Oakley Manor, located on three wooded and landscaped acres
in what is now known as Millpoint, is a contemporary 22 room house built of hand-made, over-sized Cushwa brick. A 150-year-old
stone wall runs the length of the property on the east side and was the boundary between the Whitacre and Ridings farms. Oakley Manor’s original center section was
built in 1981 by the late J. Oakley Seibert, Esq., and his wife, Lynne Woolridge Seibert. In 2005, following Mr. Seibert’s passing, Mrs. Seibert expanded the house, adding wings on the north
and south ends, and made other improvements to the original structure. Natural wood, Imari-inspired colors and Oriental touches predominate throughout the interior. Oakley Manor houses Mrs. Seibert’s
many collections: art and artifacts acquired from family, a youth spent in the Orient, and from her world travels. The eight
rooms on the first floor will be open for touring.
Shown by Berk-Mar Garden Club.
3. Tabler Farm House
The Tabler Farm House is an American four-square
built in the early 1920s by Raymond Ernest Tabler. It was the first house
on Red Hill Road. The house was originally cement block and later stuccoed. The five-acre property where
the house was built was given to May Stuckey Tabler by her parents as
a wedding gift. Additional acreage was later acquired and used as part of the farm. The original farm
consisted of the entire one-hundred block of Red Hill Road and more property to the west. The original garage was a one-car garage and was used as an enclosure, at one point, for a calf. Rabbits were raised in back of the garage, and the farm also accommodated pigs and chickens. The numerous trees on the property
included cherry, apple, pear, plum, and black walnut. Some of these trees
still stand on property at 108 N. Red Hill Road. In 1996 the home was purchased by Carolyn Cadle, who has embarked on a room-by-room restoration. Most of the walls and ceiling are the original horse-hair plaster. All of the windows, the front door, the floors, as well as the red oak built-in cabinet in the kitchen are original to the house. The grounds have been landscaped, with much of the lawn now in perennial beds maintained by the owner. The house is in the process of being placed on the National Register of Historic Homes. Shown
by Norborne Garden Club. 4. Wild Goose Farm
Wild Goose Farm was built by Rezin Davis Shepherd, grandson
of Thomas Shepherd, the founder of Shepherdstown. The original portion was completed in 1818. Major renovations, which expanded
the house into an elegant 33-room mansion, were completed in 1911. The house features nine fireplaces with magnificent mantels,
pine flooring, numerous stone and brick porches plus many fixtures and chandeliers from an historic hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. A tree-lined drive with stone fences on both sides leads
to numerous outbuildings including a brick icehouse, a stone meat house and a spectacular spring house, noted as some of the
finest stone artisan work in West Virginia. There is a beautiful timber-framed barn built the old-fashioned way by previous
owners Gat and Susan Caperton. Wild Goose Farm appeared on HGTV during the Caperton ownership. The Shultz Family assumed the property in 2006 and have converted it into
a fully operational horse farm; in the planning process is an exquisite equestrian center and a limited number of estate lots
designed by the world-renowned architect John A. Blackburn. The Schultzes have also added ornamental ponds to the landscaping. Wild Goose Farm’s decor is an easy elegance which
gives a nod to the home’s grand and historic proportions. This spring marks the first time that Wild Goose Farm has
been open to the public for touring in 50 years. Shown by Shenandoah
Garden Club. Refreshments will be served.
5. Clay Hill
Clay Hill, completed around 1835, is a very
fine example of a local five-bay center hall house. The front is laid in Flemish bond. The house
has a lovely eight-panel front door with decorative sidelight and transom surround. The front porch was recently rebuilt in solid mahogany. Most of the interior finish
is original, including excellent millwork like the Greek Revival mantels, paneled door jambs
and a fine staircase. Also of note is the brick basement which includes
a dining room—a common feature of large houses of the 1830s.
There is an early spring house and a barn on the 275-acre property. Clay Hill is owned by the Strider family, who have completed several phases of a meticulous, long-term restoration
project undertaken by master tradesmen in the region. Decorated in a primitive style, Clay Hill is home to an active family and a delightful
menagerie of animals. This tour marks the first time ever that Clay Hill has been open to the
public for touring. Shown by Piedmont Garden Club.
Refreshments will be served.
6. Cool Spring Farm
Cool Spring Farm is owned by Linda Case, who purchased
the property in 1998. Ms. Case envisioned a non-profit use for the property that would protect the environment in perpetuity
and enhance the community. This vision led to the founding of CraftWorks at Cool Spring for craft, creative learning and creative
living. Cool Spring Farm is a compact 81-acre ecological treasure, rich with human history, full of natural diversity. The
jewel of the property is not what humans have built, but what nature has wrought. Cool Spring Marsh is thought to be the first
identified Shenandoah Valley Wet Prairie Plant Community in West Virginia. This marsh supports at least 18 species of rare
West Virginia plants, is a seasonal habitat for one rare state bird—the sedge wren—and provides a fertile nesting
and feeding environment for a wide variety of summer and winter birds.
The land comprising Cool Spring Farms today was surveyed by George
Washington, and the farm’s documented history dates to 1734. Four structures currently occupy the farm: The Patent House,
The Griggs Farmhouse, the Old Stone Barn, and Mrs. Thornton’s Cottage.
The Patent House, a simple stone house built
in the late 1700s, is the oldest house still in existence at the Farm. “Patents” were early land deeds. Until
2000, the house had never had indoor water. As rotted old flooring was removed, a wealth of archeological artifacts revealed
that a family of modest means lived in the house and focused on food preparation, sewing and leather works. Later on, The
Patent House was used for agricultural storage.
In 1830 Thomas Griggs, Jr. built a dignified clapboard house, now known as the Griggs Farmhouse. Not much is known
of the history of a third structure on the property known as the Old Stone Barn, originally a bank barn with a corn crib.
When the property was purchased in 1998, only the three stone walls remained along with the milking parlor floor. As part
of the renovation, the barn was rebuilt as one story.
The neighboring property to the east was owned by a Quaker family, who, in
1869, sold an acre of land for $1 to Susan B. Thornton, a freed slave, so that she and her husband Robert could build the
house now called Mrs. Thornton’s Cottage. A one-story kitchen addition was added in the 1930s and then a second story
porch/bedroom added over the kitchen. The Cottage has been renovated to include two studios and an office.
Shown by Dolley Madison Garden
Club.
7. Professor Saunders House
The Saunders House is a large
“four square,” with three stories rising above the porch level and
one below. The walls are all of stone, and are 18 inches thick. A German stone
mason, Fount Stoutzenberger, built this house in 1927 for Saunders, a Storer
College professor. The original
rooms on the first floor, besides the large foyer, are three sitting rooms:
the main living room, the fireplace room, and the study. These, along with a
powder room and the new kitchen and sunroom, form an extremely gracious and
civilized living and entertaining space. The chandeliers and light fixtures
are original to the house. Owners Joe Anderson and Rene Fecteau have used deep warm colors to decorate the whole house, including four bedrooms on the second
floor and a charming guest suite on the third floor. The owners’ artistic sensibility is also evident in the gardens. They planted every tree on the property
and recently constructed a five-level stone fountain from which the sound of
tumbling water can be enjoyed on the private porches
on every level of this huge stone house.
Shown
by the Harpers Ferry Womans Club.
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