Bushfield (Mount Holly, Virginia)
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Bushfield, also known as Bushfield Manor, is a historic -story Flemish bond, 18th century brick Colonial Revival mansion located in Mount Holly,
Westmoreland County, Virginia Westmoreland County is a county located in the Northern Neck of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 18,477. Its county seat is Montross. History As originally established by the Virginia colony's ...
.John W, Wayland (1944). ''The Washingtons and their Homes''. Staunton: McCLure Printing, later reprinted by Berryville, Va: Virginia Book Company Bushfield is the former homestead of
John Augustine Washington John Augustine Washington (January 13, 1736–January 8, 1787; nicknamed "Jack") was a Virginia planter, slave owner and politician, perhaps best known as the younger brother of General (then President) George Washington or the father of Supreme ...
, younger brother to George Washington, and his wife, Hannah Bushrod Washington. The plantation is located on Nomini Creek and the Potomac River, and was divided throughout the 19th century. The dwelling house was remodeled in the early 20th century by noted architect,
Waddy Butler Wood Waddy Butler Wood (1869 – January 25, 1944) was a prominent American architect of the early 20th century and resident of Washington, D.C. Although Wood designed and remodeled numerous private residences, his reputation rested primarily o ...
. During research for its historic nomination, Historian Kimble A. David, of Norfolk located a 1916 letter describing a contractual agreement for a remodeling project at Bushfield. The renovation was so extensive that many came to believe incorrectly that the house was first built at that time. The origins of the Mount Holly property have been proven so conclusively that it was named to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2004. Wood enlarged the 18th century original home of the family of George Washington. Its
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
listing is based on its 1916 renovation discussed below. Also on the property are a contributing
Bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is either single-story or has a second story built into a sloping roof (usually with dormer windows), and may be surrounded by wide verandas. The first house in England that was classified as a b ...
-style caretaker's House, barn, silo, and
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 ...
. an
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History

Bushfield, on Nomini Creek, was the family plantation of John Bushrod, whose father (of the same name) had bought it from Rice Maddox. Hannah Bushrod (daughter of the former Mildred Corbin, who married the younger John Bushrod) married
John Augustine Washington John Augustine Washington (January 13, 1736–January 8, 1787; nicknamed "Jack") was a Virginia planter, slave owner and politician, perhaps best known as the younger brother of General (then President) George Washington or the father of Supreme ...
in 1756. Bushfield was about 20 miles down the King's Highway from the oldest Washington family plantation—700 acres called "Head of Maddox" (meaning
Mattox Creek Mattox Creek is a tributary of the Potomac River in the Washington District of Westmoreland County, Virginia, near the colonial stagecoach stop of Oak Grove. The creek is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution ...
, a tributary of the
Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
), which Augustine Washington in 1743 willed to that same John Augustine Washington, his younger son. While his older brother
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 ...
was surveying western lands, John Augustine Washington brought his bride to
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...
further up the Potomac River, then managed that plantation until George Washington married Martha Custis and brought her to Mount Vernon, which John Augustine Washington left in September 1761, after selling his brother some cattle. John and Hannah Washington would have sons Bushrod, Corbin, and William Augustine Washington, and daughters Mary and Jenny. John Bushrod by his February 1760 will (admitted to probate by the end of that year) bequeathed Bushfield, its land, furniture and 35 slaves to Hannah Bushrod Washington, and three slaves each to his granddaughters Mary and Jenny. John A. Washington and his family visited Mount Vernon many times between 1760 and John's death on January 10, 1787, the last recorded being a three-day visit in October 1786. John A. Washington had given his son Bushrod 41 slaves as a marriage deed of gift, which specified they would be deducted from his share of the estate. John Washington then wrote a will in 1784 (that gave his widow dower rights in 1/3 of his slaves (some named) and divided his land among his sons Bushrod and Corbin Washington, among other specified legacies) and a codicil in November 1785—which were both admitted to probate in Westmoreland County on July 31, 1787. In addition to his Westmoreland County plantations, John A. Washington had purchased 213 acres near and town lots in
Berkeley Springs Berkeley Springs is a town in, and the county seat of, Morgan County, West Virginia, United States, in the state's Eastern Panhandle. "Berkeley Springs" is also commonly used to refer to the area in and around the Town of Bath. In 1776, the Virg ...
. Many Bushrods, as well as John Augustine Washington, and Corbin Washington and his wife (the former Hannah Lee) would all be buried at Bushfield, although Corbin and his wife both died in Fairfax County in the winter of 1799–1800. Although several of the gravestones were missing in the Bushfield graveyard in 1944, two stone tombs remain and replacement markers were added, so 14 graves are known. Bushrod Washington sold Bushfield in 1804, and it was resold several times by the century's end.


Renovation

In 1916, prominent Chicagoan Mark Skinner Willing, heir to the Marshall Field retailing fortune, hired architect
Waddy Butler Wood Waddy Butler Wood (1869 – January 25, 1944) was a prominent American architect of the early 20th century and resident of Washington, D.C. Although Wood designed and remodeled numerous private residences, his reputation rested primarily o ...
, who renovated and enlarged the dwelling in the
Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...
style, expanding an existing dwelling on both sides, with side gable roofs. A portico and lantern reflect the property's association with the family of
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 ...
. Waddy Butler Wood's father was from Virginia, and although the architect was born in St. Louis, Missouri, he was raised in Gloucester County, Virginia and educated at Virginia Tech. In the early 20th century, Wood became a prominent architect in the national capital area, for both government and private buildings. He preferred the Colonial Revival style and had earlier renovated the interior of another former Washington family house, Woodlawn.NRIS pp. 12-13 Mark Skinner Willing was the son and heir of Henry J. Willing who was a partner in the Marshall Field Department Store. His mother was Frances Skinner who was the daughter of Mark Skinner a prominent Chicago lawyer and supporter of Abraham Lincoln. Upon retiring from Marshall Field Henry J. Willing became a real estate developer in Chicago. In 1895 Mark Skinner Willing married Margaret McFaden, the daughter of a prominent family from Quincy, Illinois. Eschewing Chicago where the family lived on Walton Place and in Lake Forest, where he had constructed a home on Lake Michigan, Mark Willing bought the old Bushfield Plantation which was located on a peninsular between Nomini and Buckner Creeks in Westmoreland County, Virginia. In 1915 he engaged Waddy Wood of Washington D.C. as architect for the project to greatly enlarge the still standing Bushfield Manor House for his family which now included three daughters and in 1920 a son. Brick from the old house was used in the partial construction of the Willing home. So remote was Bushfield (getting there involved an overnight on a Chesapeake Bay steamer from Baltimore) that it took 7 years to complete the transformation of Bushfield into a Georgian Revival brick mansion. Mr. Willing and Mr. Wood sited the house to take maximum advantage of the views to the Potomac River and to catch the breeze off the river. The family at first resided there during the fall and spring but increasingly during the Depression and World War II spent more time there and made Bushfield their primary home. In addition to constructing farm buildings for a working farm and a plant to produce electricity, Mr.Willing installed a tennis court and a gold course for his family. Mr. Willing died in 1944 and the house and farm were sold to Mrs. St. John. Mrs. Willing returned to Chicago and died there in 1948.


References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Washington family residences Plantation houses in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia Houses completed in 1916 Houses in Westmoreland County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Westmoreland County, Virginia