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Group aims to restore, preserve property called Weston in Fauquier County Date published: 12/19/2003 By RICHARD AMRHINE WITH ITS CASANOVA address, Weston is as it should be: handsome and well cared-for. If the smitten members of the Warrenton Antiquarian Society have their way, Weston will carry on forever. Situated about 10 miles southeast of Warrenton in south-central Fauquier County, the tract that became Weston was still part of Prince William County in the 1750s when Robert "King" Carter, an associate of Lord Fairfax, deeded 440 acres to Giles Fitzhugh. The 10-acre homestead, which dates to about 1830, was placed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. Another 271 acres has been left to Virginia as a wildlife refuge. Tours are offered by appointment to school groups and other interested parties. The Antiquarians, like the family that bequeathed Weston to them, are hoping to raise money to restore and maintain the house and outbuildings, said Lauren Starke, the group's publicity director. Though much work has been done, much more remains. In the meantime, the green clapboards, black metal roof and numerous brick chimneys lend consistency to the exterior of a home that was built around 1830 and added to over a 65-year period. Starke estimates the outbuildings alone will cost $50,000 each to restore. "We want to do it right, and that costs money," she said. A big part of doing it right is learning how the property evolved. To do that the group called in Cheryl Shepherd, a historic-architecture consultant and Mary Washington College graduate who worked for the college's Center for Historic Preservation. What their research has revealed so far is that the original two-story, two-room log cabin probably dates to between 1830 and 1840, rather than the 18th century as was first thought. Shepherd figures that a couple of the outbuildings, such as the kitchen and timber-frame barn, were built around the same time "What we have is a rare collection of outbuildings that are of major significance. We don't want to say anything that's not true, so that's why we're undertaking a more in-depth look at the property and the family," said Shepherd.
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