Belvale is an historic

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

in present-day

Fairfax County, Virginia Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

built between 1763 and 1766 by George Johnston (1700–1766), member of the

Virginia Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 1619 ...

1758–1766, friend of

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736June 6, 1799) was an American attorney, planter, politician and orator known for declaring to the Second Virginia Convention (1775): " Give me liberty, or give me death!" A Founding Father, he served as the first an ...

, and legal advisor to

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

, who was a frequent visitor to the home.Beth Mitchell. 1977. ''Beginning at a White Oak... Patents and Northern Neck Grants of Fairfax County, Virginia''. Fairfax, Va.: McGregor & Warner. p. 137. The home's original lands, described as lying on "Doeg's Run", were first granted on July 6, 1698 to Richard Carpenter, who bequeathed them in 1750 to his wife Mary and daughter Ann, who sold the property to Johnston in 1763. Belvale is sometimes called "Belle Vale Manor" in historical records.William Buckner McGroarty. 1925. "Elizabeth Washington of Hayfield" in ''The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography'' 33(2): 165. Belvale was Johnston's

country seat A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

; his

town home A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of ...

was in the city of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

.Eleanor Lee Templeman and Nan Netherton. 1966. ''Northern Virginia Heritage, a Pictorial Compilation of the Historic Sites and Homes in the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier, Prince William and Stafford, and the cities of Alexandria and Fredericksburg'', privately published, Arlington and Vienna, Va., p. 42. The grounds of Belvale are reputed to harbor a

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

of a young man killed in a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

who was buried under a cedar tree, reputedly with Washington's assistance in digging the grave and planting the cedar tree. The

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

documentation of the house, which is a private residence, states that a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

which may have been a slave

burial ground A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

is on the property, though it is no longer extant.

References

External links

Photos of Belvale at ''Historic Wanderings'', June 29, 2010
{{coord, 38.76373, -77.12711, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-VA, display=title Buildings and structures in Alexandria, Virginia

Archaeological sites in Virginia This is a listing of sites of archaeological interest in the state of Virginia, in the United States. {{Commons cat, Archaeological sites in Virginia Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlant ...

George Washington Plantation houses in Virginia Museums in Fairfax County, Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Houses in Fairfax County, Virginia Houses completed in 1766