Belle Grove- Middletown, VA

Built in 1794 from limestone quarried on the property, Belle Grove is one of the best preserved examples of Federal Style architecture in the United States. The manor incorporates several design features personally suggested by Thomas Jefferson, including the Palladian concepts of symmetry, proportion, balance, and use of columns. 

Built by Revolutionary War veteran Captain Issac Hite, Jr, and his wife Nelly Conway Madison (sister of James Madison), the home is best known for its use by the Union army during the Civil War Valley Campaign of 1864. Following the Civil War, the property cycled through several owners, before being converted to an inn in the 1920s. 

In 1929, Belle Grove was sold once again. The new owner, Francis Welles Hunnewell, spent decades carefully restoring the historic manor to its former grandeur. Upon his death in 1967, he left the house, as well as 100 acres and $100,000 to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 1967, the property opened to the public.