Well, plans to relocate in Virginia went really well. The good Lord watched over us and things literally fell into place! Our new home is just outside Lynchburg in the town of Forest (Bedford County). As the crow flies, it's located less than 2 miles from Thomas Jefferson's former summer home, "Poplar Forest." After e-mailing with Ms. Dianne Kinney (one of the managers at Poplar Forest), I discovered that the land was once part of Jefferson's 4, 819 acre estate!
Our new home is somewhat of a combination Cape Cod and Saltbox. It has a wraparound porch across the front and along one side. There are 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths, and has 2,334 finished square feet. The unfinished area is another 600 square feet. The house is on .83 of an acre, and has views of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. I'm already planning to finish off 200 more feet and make my "dream den" (18th century style, of course!) Robbi's happy as I can come in the downstairs family room after hunting and head right to both the shower and laundry before coming upstairs.
We really have the best of both worlds. We're on just about an acre off a country road, surrounded by woods. We have only one immediate neighbor. This neighbor is within one of the two nearby developments (long cul-de-sacs) and are very friendly. One side of the house has about a 100 yards of hardwoods before opening up to a field that couldn't be any more picturesque. There are two old barns framed by beautiful Wisteria trees (see pics below). I'm told that the woods/fields are owned by a nearby farmer and are home to lots of turkey, deer and other wildlife. If it couldn't get any better, we were told that there can be no further development in the area as per a county agreement... so it appears it will be this way for some time!
Around the corner from us sits a beautiful, white, early Federal-styled mansion topped with a large cuppola (see pic below). It sits atop the hill overlooking the intersection of Forest and Perrowville Roads. I make a point of admiring the old place as I drive past each day, but only recently learned its history. The house, named "Ashwood," was built for Martha Jefferson, daughter of Thomas Jefferson. The home was built on 1,000 acres given to her by Jefferson as a wedding present when she married future Virginia governor, Thomas Mann Randolph, in 1790. |
