Farley’s frame mansion is among the most imposing of the plantation houses built for Tidewater families who moved to the Piedmont after the Revolution. Originally a Beverley family property called Sans Souci, the Culpeper County tract was purchased in 1801 by William Champe Carter of Albemarle County, who renamed it for his wife, Maria Byrd Farley Carter and built the house soon after. With its stately façade marked by three pedimented pavilions, the house is an impressive Virginia interpretation of English neoclassicism. Inside is a formal suite of four reception rooms with original woodwork. In 1863 Farley was purchased by Franklin P. Stearns, a Vermont-born businessman. That same year the house was commandeered by Gen. John Sedgwick for a Union headquarters during the battle of Brandy Station. Farley stood empty for many years but was meticulously restored in the 1980s.
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