Representing the evolution of a one-time Virginia plantation, Stoke, in southwestern Loudoun County, stands as testimony to the economic regeneration that occurred after the Civil War in the northern part of the state as wealth from outside of the South was invested into old plantations. The manor house dates to around the 1840s, a period when many Tidewater Virginia families had migrated to the area to settle inheritance claims. The property also features many early- to mid-19th-century historic resources including road traces, fieldstone walls, and a two-story, one-time inn, Landmark Ordinary. It was during the late 1920s and 1930s that Stoke gained notoriety in the cut-flower industry. In the early 20th century new owners Colonel Floyd and Eleanor Truax Harris had architect Nathan Wyeth transform Stoke’s manor house and property into a Renaissance Revival-style estate that included formal gardens, and a dairy, a milk house, and workhorse barn. Despite enormous wealth, Eleanor Harris understood the financial plight of her neighbors and turned to her gardens for inspiration. During the Great Depression she led the ladies of the Aldie Horticultural Society to sell cut narcissus and over 30 varieties of bulbs to support their families. Harris, internationally recognized for her horticultural pursuits, supported the local endeavor by initially investing in the importation of Dutch bulbs in advance of an embargo, thereby securing a place for the village of Aldie in the cut-flower industry.
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