Raspberry Plain
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Raspberry Plain is a historic property and former plantation in Loudoun County, Virginia, near Leesburg. Raspberry Plain was one of the principal Mason family estates of Northern Virginia. Raspberry Plain currently operates as an event site, hosting weddings and other special events year round.
History
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron granted the title to the 322-acre (130 ha) Raspberry Plain property to blacksmith Joseph Dixon in 1731.[1][2] In 1754, the "houses, buildings, orchard, ways and watercourses" of Raspberry Plain were purchased by Loudoun County's first sheriff, Aeneas Campbell.[1][2] Under Campbell's ownership, the property became the site of Loudoun County's first jailhouse.[1][2] Raspberry Plain was then purchased by George Mason's younger brother Thomson Mason from Campbell, in 1760.[1][3] In 1771, Thomson built the mansion at Raspberry Plain. Upon Thomson's death, the Raspberry Plain estate was deeded to his eldest son Stevens Thomson Mason, U.S. senator from Virginia.[1][3][4] The mansion at Raspberry Plain was added to throughout the 19th-century and demolished around 1910.[4] Senator Mason's son, Armistead Thomson Mason, of Selma, was shot and killed by his cousin, John Mason McCarty, in a duel fought at the Bladensburg dueling grounds in Bladensburg, Maryland, in February 1819. McCarty lived at nearby Strawberry Plain, the home and jail of Aeneas Campbell, which had been parceled off from the Raspberry Plain property.[4] That mansion has long since disappeared.[4] In 1910, Raspberry Plain was rebuilt for copper millionaire John Guthrie Hopkins.[4] Raspberry Plain, along with several neighboring estates including nearby Mason family estates Temple Hall and Locust Hill, is a contributing property in the 25,000-acre (100 km2) Catoctin Rural Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 31 January 1989.[4]
Current usage
Today, Raspberry Plain is operated as a venue for weddings, receptions, corporate events and other special occasions. The Grand Conservatory, which can seat up to 200 guests comfortably, was added to the Mansion House in 1998. Raspberry Plain is open for visits on Saturdays from 11a-2p and by appointment.
Architecture
Although destroyed in 1910, the 1771 mansion that is depicted in old photographs appears to be a Georgian-style brick dwelling with gambrel-roofed brick wings.[4] It was replaced by the present large Colonial Revival brick mansion around 1910.[4] The 2 1⁄2-story, Flemish bond brick dwelling possesses a two-story tetrastyle Roman Doric portico with a lunette in the triangular pediment.[4] A row of four pedimented dormers extends across the slate gable roof with overhanging eaves and a wide frieze with dentils encircles the building.[4] Windows are six-over-six double-sash types with louvered shutters and wood lintels.[4] A large central Palladian window sheltered by the portico is the dominant feature of the house.[4] Several tenant houses, farm buildings, gambrel-roofed barns, a bank barn, and stables are scattered around the farm.[4]
Burial ground
The following people are interred in the Mason family burial ground at Raspberry Plain:
- Thomson Mason (14 August 1733–26 February 1785)[5]
- Mary King Barnes Mason (died 21 October 1771),[6] first wife of Thomson Mason and mother of Stevens Thomson Mason
- Stevens Thomson Mason (29 December 1760–9 May 1803),[7] son of Thomson Mason
- Armistead Thomson Mason (4 August 1787–6 February 1819),[8] son of Stevens Thomson Mason
References
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- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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