Fairfield is one of the largest of several houses erected in the late 18th century by members of the Washington family on their extensive holdings in the lower Shenandoah Valley. Most of these properties are now in West Virginia. Fairfield follows the symmetrical, rectangular format typical of Virginia’s Tidewater Georgian houses but is built of native limestone. It was completed ca. 1770 for Warner Washington, whose first cousin George Washington visited here on numerous occasions. The dormers and terminal wings were added in the 20th century by the Richardson family, who acquired the property in 1830. The one-story connecting wings are part of the original construction. The house preserves its original Georgian stair and paneled woodwork. The handsome grounds have terraced gardens. Fairfield’s unusually large brick and stone barn was probably built in the early-19th-century. The property contributes to the Long Marsh Run Rural Historic District.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia