Oatlands Historic House & Gardens

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Oatlands Historic District

| nrhp_type = nhl

| image = Oatlands Historic District, Main House, (Loudoun County, Virginia).jpg

| caption = Main House of Oatlands Historic District (1973)

| location = Loudoun County, Virginia

| coordinates = {{coord|39|2|27|N|77|37|02|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = USA Virginia Northern#USA Virginia#USA

| area = {{convert|415|acre|ha}} (landmarked area)

| built = ca. 1804

| architect = George Carter (original)

| architecture = Federal, Greek Revival

| website = {{URL|www.oatlands.org}}

| added = November 12, 1969 (original)
May 3, 1974 (expansion to district){{NRISref|version=2010a}}

| refnum = 69000255 (original)
74002327 (expansion to district)

| designated_other1 = Virginia Landmarks Register

| designated_other1_date = September 9, 1969{{cite web|title=Virginia Landmarks Register|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/register_counties_cities.htm|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|accessdate=5 June 2013}}

| designated_other1_number = 053-0093

| designated_other1_num_position = bottom

| nearest_city = Leesburg, Virginia

| designated_nrhp_type = November 11, 1971{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=852&ResourceType=Building |title=Oatlands |accessdate=2008-06-26|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service}}

| mpsub =

}}

Oatlands Historic House and Gardens (formerly Oatlands Plantation) is an estate located in Leesburg, Virginia, United States. Oatlands is operated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark. The Oatlands property is composed of the main mansion and 415 acres (168.0 ha) of farmland and gardens. The house is judged one of the finest Federal period country estate houses in the nation.

On the property, in addition to the Mansion, are a number of outbuildings, including the Carriage House, Bachelor's Cottage, several barns and farm buildings, and a greenhouse, built in 1810, said to be the oldest standing greenhouse in the South.Washington Post, August 7, 1997.

History

Image:Oatlands Plantation.jpg

Oatlands was established by George Carter, a great-grandson of Robert "King" Carter, in 1798 on 3,408 acres (1,980 ha) of farmland. It started as a wheat farm, but expanded to include other grains, sheep, a gristmill and a saw mill, and a vineyard. In 1804, Carter began construction of a Federal mansion, which he expanded in the 1820s and 1830s.{{Cite news |last=Heim |first=Joe |date=November 25, 2023 |title=After legal fight, National Trust to take control of historic Oatlands |work=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/11/25/oatlands-national-trust-loudoun/ |url-status=}} A terraced garden and numerous outbuildings were added during this time.

Carter's plantation and business ventures were built with, and by, enslaved laborers. When Carter took ownership of the land and the people who worked there, there were 17 enslaved laborers on the land. Through both purchase of more enslaved people, and the system of chattel slavery (their children were also enslaved), the Carter Plantation claimed 133 people as property at the time of the 1860 census. Their work included planting and harvesting the fields; caring for farm animals; domestic labor such as cooking, cleaning, caring for children, and sewing; and probably trades such as blacksmithing and milling.Oatlands Historic House and Gardens (2015). Slavery. Retrieved from http://www.oatlands.org/slavery/

George Carter's widow, Elizabeth Grayson Lewis Carter, inherited the property after her husband's death in 1846. In 1861, fearing that a battle between Union and Confederate forces was imminent nearby, Elizabeth Carter fled to another of her properties, Bellefield. The Carters' eldest son, George Carter II, reopened the mansion with his wife, Katherine Powell Carter, in 1863 and inherited the property when his mother died in 1887.

In 1897 the Carter family sold the mansion with 60 acres (24.3 ha) for $10,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=10000|start_year=1897}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) to Stilson Hutchins, founder of The Washington Post newspaper, who never lived on the property.

Hutchins sold Oatlands in 1903 to William Corcoran Eustis and Edith Livingston Morton Eustis. Mrs. Eustis restored the gardens from neglect, adding boxwood-lined parterres to the terraces, statuary, a rose garden, a bowling green, and a reflecting pool. Today her plantings include mature specimens of Buxus sempervirens `Arborescens’ and `Suffruticosa’, Larix decidua, and Quercus robur. The house was also upgraded with modern amenities including indoor plumbing, heating and gas lighting, along with pine floors placed over the original Carter flooring, an elevator, and a custom first floor bathroom for childhood friend, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Due to their prominent political stance in Washington, D.C., the Eustises had many famous friends including General George C. Marshall, Henry Cabot Lodge, President Harry S. Truman and Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.

After Mrs. Eustis' death in 1964, her daughters, Margaret and Anne, donated the mansion, furnishings, and estate grounds to Margaret's husband, David E. Finley, founder of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971.{{Citation |title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Oatlands|url={{NHLS url|id=69000255}} |format=pdf|date=August 21, 1969 |author=Staff, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission, James W. Moody, Jr., Director |publisher=National Park Service}} In 1974 a series of scenic easements around the National Historic Landmark area were designated the Oatlands Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. The district includes Oatland Mills, the Mountain Gap School, and the Church of Our Savior.{{cite web|last=Wilkens|first=Woodrow|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Oatlands Historic District|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Loudoun/053-0446_Oatlands_Historic_District_1974_Final_Nomination.pdf|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=18 September 2011|author2=Slade, Thomas M. |date=November 6, 1973}}

References

External links

{{Official website |http://www.oatlands.org/}}
[http://www.preservationnation.org/travel-and-sites/sites/oatlands.html Oatlands] at National Trust for Historic Preservation
{{HABS |survey=VA-949 |id=va0703 |title=Oatlands Historic District, U.S. Route 15, Leesburg, Loudoun County, VA |photos=1 |dwgs=2 |supp=yes}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-A |id=va0704 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Main House |photos=9 |dwgs=13 |data=6 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-B |id=va0705 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Bachelor Cottage |dwgs=1 |data=5 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-C |id=va0706 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Greenhouse |dwgs=1 |data=4 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-D |id=va0707 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Studio |photos=1 |dwgs=1 |data=4 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-E |id=va0708 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Servants' Quarters |data=5 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-F |id=va0709 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Carter Barn |photos=1 |dwgs=2 |data=5 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-G |id=va0710 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Little Oatlands |dwgs=2 |data=5 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-H |id=va1277 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Carter's Mills |photos=2 |data=3 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-K |id=va0711 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Mountain Gap School |photos=1 |dwgs=1 |data=2 |link=no}}
{{HABS |survey=VA-949-L |id=va1276 |title=Oatlands Historic District, Church of Our Savior |photos=2 |data=5 |cap=1 |link=no}}