HISTORY:
Houses in the early 1800s were orientated toward the prevailing winds for cooling. The front door at Locust Grove faces West and its center hall runs East. The style was 2 large rooms on each level: 1st floor: dining room & living room, each with a wood-burning fireplace for heat. A wide center hall leads to the back of the house, & a staircase goes up; 2nd floor: 2 bedrooms with wood-burning fireplaces. Cooking was still done away from the house because of fire hazards.
As new innovations came along, people added a kitchen & gathering room across the back of the house & extending the center hall. Above were addition bedroom & baths.This house had an 3rd addition along the South end allowing for a 1/2 bath, furnace, enlarged kitchen; & upstairs, a 2nd Bath & Office w/ circular stairs leading to main level. The present owner converted a small bedroom near the master into a black & white marble bath w/ a huge shower/steam room & jetted tub filled by water falling from a ceiling valve.
The house was painted last year. The kitchen was gutted & replaced w/ the finest quality appliances & kitchen counter tops of Brazilian Granite. Floors in the kitchen, gathering & utility/mud rooms have been replaced by stone. Most of the 1815 Heart Pine floors are intact. Across the back runs a partially covered curved terrace allowing space for tables & views to the pool or pond.
LocustGrove is listed with both the Virginia and National Historic Registries.
The stable was built in 2011 by local craftsmen of cinderblock w/ a thick coating of color-dyed stucco. The Tack Room has a clothes washer, refrigerator, sink, hot water tank and toilet. So the wash stall with hot & cold water is next door. There is a septic field and huge loft that could be converted to an apartment in the future. The center aisle is extra wide & matted. The 5 stalls have mats & heated Nelson automatic waters. Two stalls share a removable partition making them into a foaling stall.
A 2 acre turn out area, the stables wide shed roof run-in w/ matted footing & Nelson Waterer makes back of stable a safe place to turn out a mare & foal or your fox hunters who" hide" during those early morning roundups. Feed Room & lots of Hay storage. The Eastern side has covered parking for tractors/horse trailers. One field w/ large run-in shed, elec. & water + 5 other fenced fields & an old Stallion Barn. The pond & small dock are an oasis for waterfowl & birds who love to nest in the thick clusters of water lilies and day lilies. A swimming pool w/ new coping & pool house w/ new roof (& washer/dryer conn., shower, bathroom & dressing room) Propane is piped to the pool & capped (heater was removed years ago)An unused tenant house ( deemed sound) needs renovation. Covered parking is for 2 cars. Big workshop. Smoke House now a sitting room..