Court Manor (built as Mooreland Hall) is an early
Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
plantation house
A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...
and estate in
Rockingham County,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, located south of the town of
New Market New Market may refer to:
Bangladesh
*New Market, Dhaka
*New Market, Khulna, in Sonadanga Model Thana
*New Market, Chittagong, near Government City College, Chittagong
India
* New Market, Bhopal
*New Market, Kolkata
Jamaica
*New Market, Jama ...
. With its stately manor house and prime location in the heart of the
Shenandoah Valley
The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...
, Court Manor has long been regarded as "one of the finest estates in the Valley of Virginia."
[Harrison, J. Houston. ''Settlers by the Long Grey Trail: Some Pioneers to Old Augusta County, Virginia.'' Harrisonburg, Virginia: C.J. Carrier Co., 1983.] The estate is situated on
U.S. Route 11
{{Infobox road
, country=USA
, type=US
, route=11
, map={{maplink, frame=yes, plain=yes, frame-align=center, frame-width=290, frame-height=330, type=line, from=U.S. Route 11.map
, map_custom=yes
, map_notes=US 11 in red, US 11E in blue, US 11W in ...
, which follows the route of the historic
Great Wagon Road
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
, a
colonial
Colonial or The Colonial may refer to:
* Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology)
Architecture
* American colonial architecture
* French Colonial
* Spanish Colonial architecture
Automobiles
* Colonial (1920 au ...
thoroughfare connecting
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...
.
[Terrell, Isaac Long. ''Old Houses in Rockingham County, 1750-1850''. 3rd edition. McClure Press. (1983).] The estate's landholdings include some of land, extending from the base of the
Massanutten Mountain Ridge to about one-half mile () west of U.S. Route 11. The manor house (circa 1800), with its impressive Greek Revival
portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...
, can be easily seen from the tree-lined stretch of U.S. Route 11 that passes through the heart of the estate.
Early Estate History
Colonial Period
Sometime prior to the final surveying of the
Fairfax Line
The Fairfax Line was a surveyor's line run in 1746 to establish the limits of the " Northern Neck land grant" (also known as the "Fairfax Grant") in colonial Virginia.
The land grant, first contrived in 1649, encompassed all lands bounded by the ...
in 1746,
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron (22 October 16939 December 1781), was a Scottish peer. He was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, and Catherine Colepeper, daughter of Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper.
The on ...
, granted a tract of land on the
Great Wagon Road
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
near
Smith Creek to a Samuel Newman, who in turn sold the land in 1754 to Thomas Moore, Sr., (1727–1797). The first permanent dwelling to be built on the estate was the house of Thomas Moore, Sr., which was located on a knoll overlooking
Smith Creek.
Seeking to expand the size of his landholdings, Moore petitioned the Crown for a
land grant
A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...
of some , which was granted by
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
eleven years later in 1765.
[Hadsell, Jerome B. ''Life and Times of Willis Sharpe Kilmer.'' Binghamton Press, 1940.''] For the next century and a half, the estate was to remain in the hands of Moore family.
["Mooreland Hall." Virginia Conservation Commission: Division of History, George W. Fetzer, researcher. ''Works Progress Administration of Virginia: Historical Inventory''. 1936.]
American Revolution and later 18th century
In the years leading up to the
American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, Moore and his sons continued to expand and improve the estate. Moore's oldest son and future heir, Captain Reuben Moore, Sr., left the estate at the outbreak of the
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
to serve as an officer in the Rockingham
militia
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
under Colonel Benjamin Harrison. By the war's end in 1784, some 17 members of the Moore family were residing on the estate, both in the original house built by Thomas Moore, Sr., and in a second house built by his third son, Thomas Moore, Jr.
[Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790, Virginia. (Records of the State Enumerations: 1782 to 1785) Washington: Government Printing Office, 1908. Reprinted: 1993 by American Genealogical Lending Library. Transcribed from microfiche.](_blank)
After the war, Captain Moore returned to the
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
and was elected a
Commissioner
A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something).
In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...
of Rockingham County in 1789.
It was Captain Moore who selected a wide, gently rolling tract of land near the
Great Wagon Road
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
on which to build a small log house for his family. A quarter-century later, Captain Moore's son, Reuben Moore, Jr., would build Court Manor on the very spot where his father's
log cabin
A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers.
Eur ...
once stood.
Design and construction
Reuben Moore, Jr., likely began construction of Court Manor (then known as Mooreland Hall) during the last years of the eighteenth century, following his grandfather's death in 1797. Mooreland Hall would have been a rather conventional exercise in the late colonial style if it were not for the incorporation of the impressive Greek Revival portico into the design. Supported by four massive columns of the
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...
and surmounted by a simple triangular
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
decorated with a single semi-circular window, the scale of the portico dominates the main
facade of the house. The large, two-level structure was constructed using bricks fired on site by the
plantation's slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s. The house contained twelve spacious rooms, each with a fireplace and with large windows, affording panoramic views of the rolling countryside with the
Massanutten Mountain Ridge rising in the distance.
The grandeur of the mansion and its handsomely landscaped grounds served to match the impressive scale of the estate, which at 1,700 acres was unusually large by Valley standards. The wide, spacious lawn, dotted with large trees, slopes gently towards a spring-fed brook that arises on the grounds of the estate less than a mile away and meanders gently towards Smith Creek, which also runs through the estate. Smith Creek was used to power the plantation's
mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
*
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Textile mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
, which produced flour and other products that were transported up and down the
Great Wagon Road
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
. The estate remained in the Moore family until 1879, when Oscar Fitz Allen Moore, grandson of Reuben Moore, Jr., sold the estate to William C. & George H. Harrison.
Twentieth Century
While the house was originally known as Mooreland Hall, by the early 20th century the estate came to be known as Court Manor. Over the years the original structure was expanded with various additions including a large enclosed sun porch on the southwest side of the building and an extended suite of guest rooms on the north side of the house. However, after its 1987 restoration, the front, central portion of the manor house appears today as it did when it was constructed around 1800.
In 1925, Court Manor was purchased by
Willis Sharpe Kilmer
Willis Sharpe Kilmer (October 18, 1869 – July 12, 1940) was a patent medicine manufacturer, newspaperman, horse breeder, and entrepreneur.
Biography
Willis Kilmer, son of Jonas M. Kilmer and Julia E. Sharpe, was a marketing pioneer, newspape ...
, a New York entrepreneur, newspaperman, and horse breeder best known for marketing his uncle's popular medicinal tonic "Dr. Kilmer's cure-all remedy Swamp Root". The period of Kilmer's ownership of the estate saw dramatic development of the property, establishing it as one of the country's most preeminent horse studs.
Exterminator, the winner of the 1918
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...
, resided on the estate after his racing career, and
Reigh Count
Reigh Count (April 13, 1925–April 8, 1948) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1928 Kentucky Derby and the 1929 Coronation Cup in England.
Reigh Count was bred by Willis Sharpe Kilmer and foaled at Court Manor n ...
, the winner of the 1928 Kentucky Derby, was bred and born on the estate. After Kilmer had acquired Court Manor in 1923, he had some 10,000
silver maple
''Acer saccharinum'', commonly known as silver maple, creek maple, silverleaf maple, soft maple, large maple, water maple, swamp maple, or white maple, is a species of maple native to the eastern and central United States and southeastern Canad ...
trees planted along the roads of the estate in memory of those lost in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Today these trees are still extant and can be seen lining both sides of U.S. Route 11 as it passes through the estate.
Following Kilmer's death, Court Manor fell into a state of disrepair and slow deterioration. During the
back-to-the-land movement
A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree of self-suffi ...
of the 1960s and 1970s, the estate was home to a
commune
A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to:
Administrative-territorial entities
* Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township
** Communes of ...
, and by the early 1980s, the estate's landholdings had dwindled to some , the manor house was virtually uninhabitable, and the entire estate was in a state of ruin.
In 1985, Court Manor was acquired by North Carolina textile magnate Nicholas Wehrmann, Sr., who initiated a wide-scale renovation of the manor house and estate grounds. The original section of the house and its Greek Revival portico were intact enough to be preserved in whole, but the later additions, which used inferior construction methods, had sustained far too much structural damage to be salvaged. The renovation restored the structure to its original condition and added two additional wings to the house. Also during this period the grounds of the estate were revitalized for agricultural purposes. Pastures underwent extensive renovation, historical barns were preserved, and new construction of barns, corrals, feeding systems, and miles of high tensile fence was completed. Since 1985, acquisitions by Wehrmann have restored nearly of land to the estate, bringing the total landholdings to some .
["Court Manor". ''Field Tours of the 83rd National ]Block and Bridle
Block and Bridle is a professional fraternity in the field of Animal Husbandry. Founded on December 2, 1919 in Chicago, Illinois by the Animal Husbandry clubs from Iowa State University, University of Kansas, University of Missouri and University ...
Convention.'' Washington, DC. (2003). The estate was home to Wehrmann's herd of purebred
Aberdeen Angus cattle
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, operated by the firm Wehrmann Angus.
Nicholas Wehrman, Sr. died on March 24, 2010,
Obituary: Nicholas Wehrmann. 25 Mar 2010.
/ref> and the estate has since been offered for sale.
References
{{reflist, 35em
Houses in Rockingham County, Virginia
Greek Revival houses in Virginia
Houses completed in 1800
Plantations in Virginia
Plantation houses in Virginia