|
|
AFTER A DECADE of ownership, research and remodeling, Judith and Gene Conner have made their point about Bushfield: Its Westmoreland County roots run nearly 300 years deep.
"That has been the single most important thing," said Judith Conner during a tour of the property earlier this week. "We want to get the point across that this is an 18th-century house."
Poring over dusty courthouse records and digging under the house itself--that was the hard part.
Then everything fell into place when architectural historian Kimble A. David of Norfolk turned up a 1916 letter de-scribing a contractual agreement for a remodeling project at Bushfield. The project was so extensive that many came to believe incorrectly that the house was first built at that time.
Indeed, the origins of the Mount Holly property have now been proved so conclusively that it was recently named to the National Register of Historic Places.
What was once lore is now fact: The well-known Bushrod family took up residence there by the early 1700s. The Bushrods and Bushfield plantation were subsequently linked by ownership and marriage to their Westmoreland County neighbors, the Washington and Lee families.
Though it is not clear exactly when the house was built, the graves of a second generation of Bushrods who owned the property are found in a family plot near the house. Col. John Bushrod died in 1719, and his wife, Hannah, died in 1739.
A grandchild of theirs, named Hannah Bushrod, married John Augustine Washington, George Washington's brother, and they lived at Bushfield. John and Hannah Washington's son Corbin married Hannah Lee, of the Stratford Hall Lees. Her nephew Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee III was the father of Robert E. Lee.
And so Bushfield takes its place in the annals of U.S. history.
Located on Buckner Creek and separated from the Potomac River by a narrow spit of land, Bushfield became a river landmark. Once George had retired to Mount Vernon, brotherly visits became an easy boat ride along the Potomac.
Today, anyone approaching the house from the creek side will notice the striking resemblance to Mount Vernon, with the tall, columned porch and cupola (or lantern) atop the slate roof. Both were added after the home's original construction, but before the 1916 renovation.
The home is described in papers filed with the National Park Service as a Flemish-bond mansion (referring to the exterior brickwork pattern) with Colonial Revival details. The water-facing side of the house has Georgian architecture features, with tall main-level windows reaching down to floor level.
The home's exterior design seeks balance, if not exact symmetry, both from side to side and from front to back. That is achieved, in part, with the double, H-shaped chimneys at each end of the original portion of the house. One of the chimneys at each end is just for show. The other two chimneys are functional.
The Conners have done extensive renovations since purchasing Bushfield in 1995. The biggest change was to add a "rear" entrance, with a portico, where a bathroom had been before. The new doorway has become the natural main entrance, since most coming and going these days is done by automobile rather than by boat.
The home's interior is at once formal and comfortable. The Conners have capitalized on that appeal, using the home as an occasional bed-and-breakfast, known as Bushfield Manor, for wedding parties and the like.
The bathrooms and kitchen look as though they were remodeled yesterday, but the handsome colors, wallpaper patterns and flooring were chosen to enhance the home's classic decor.
At every turn are reminders of the home's origins and previous residents, with bedrooms named for Bushrods and Washingtons, and pieces of period furniture throughout. The home has a total of 13 bedrooms--though not all are furnished as such--and seven bathrooms. The number of bed-and-breakfast guests is limited by license to 12 at a time.
The care used in harmonizing the older and newer portions of the home is evident. The interior trim and fireplace mantels of the original house are distinct from but complementary to those of the portion added in 1916. The crown molding in the living and dining rooms is largely the original 18th-century plaster, craftsmanship that Judith Conner called "a dying art."
Between 1914 and 1916, under the direction of noted architect Waddy Butler Wood, the home's symmetrical wings were added to each end, and the then-rear of the home was significantly enlarged. The main staircase was reconfigured and a secondary staircase was added.
Dormers were added on either side of the roof, allowing an attic to become a third story of living space. One dormer on each side gives access to a porch roof, providing panoramic views of the Potomac and the Maryland shoreline seven miles away, as well as the surrounding countryside.
The octagonal cupola on the roof is also known as a lantern, from its days as a U.S. Coast Guard lighthouse. The green-and-red rotating light can still be operated.
Central heating and cooling keep things comfortable throughout the house. There are eight fireplaces. All are in working order, but their chimneys have been capped by the owners to prevent fouling by the growing osprey family that nests nearby each year.
The labyrinthine basement is dry, well-lighted and brightly painted. There are several rooms with arched brick entryways for storage or other uses. The original coal chutes remain. Added in 1916 is a no-longer-used 20,000-gallon well-water holding tank, mostly hidden underground. Alongside are the gear works for a crank-operated pump that would provide water pressure for the upper stories.
Bushfield's street address of 367 Club House Loop serves as a reminder of its years in the 1960s as a country club. The nine-hole golf course, which opened in 1962, is still adjacent to the property, but a new Bushfield Country Club clubhouse has since been built.
Tennis courts and a swimming pool on the Conners' property provide other forms recreation--in addition, of course, to the dock and water access just steps away.
Judith Conner said a sense of stewardship comes with owning such a historic home. "Sometimes it feels like we don't own it--but that we're just taking care of it," she said.
That period of stewardship may be ending, as the Conners have placed Bushfield on the market. As for Bushfield's next chapter, "We want it to be loved like we love it," she said.In addition to the factual history so painstakingly compiled by Judith Conner and Kimble David, new owners of Bushfield may be the beneficiaries of its spiritual history as well. At night, when the house is quiet, the Conners report hearing unscheduled guests enjoying themselves in the house. Though they have never been startled or frightened by these visitors, they have heard the sounds of happy conversation, perhaps among those so in love with Bushfield that they could never leave.
ON THE NET: bushfieldmanor .com; dhr.virginia.gov/dhr_board /December2003.
To reach RICHARD AMRHINE: 540/374-5406 ramrhine@freelancestar.com