Chestnut Grove was an 18th-century plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 on the Pamunkey River

Pamunkey River

The Pamunkey River is a tributary of the York River, about long, in eastern Virginia in the United States. Via the York River it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay.-Course:...

 near New Kent Court House

New Kent, Virginia

New Kent is a census-designated place in and the county seat of New Kent County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2010 Census was 239.-References:...

 in New Kent County

New Kent County, Virginia

At the 2000 census, there were 13,462 people, 4,925 households and 3,895 families residing in the county. The population density was 64 per square mile . There were 5,203 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Chestnut Grove is best known as the birthplace

Place of birth

The place of birth is the place where a person was born. This place is often used in legal documents, together with name and date of birth, to uniquely identify a person. The place of birth is not necessarily the place where the parents of the new baby live. If the baby is born in a hospital in...

 of Martha Washington

Martha Washington

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...

, wife of George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

, and the first First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...

. Martha Washington was born in the east room of the mansion house.

History

The two-story frame house consisting of six rooms was originally built around 1730. It was first inhabited by prominent Virginia planter John Dandridge

John Dandridge

Colonel John Dandridge of Chestnut Grove was a distinguished colonel, planter, and Clerk of the Courts of New Kent County, Virginia from 1730 to 1756...

 and his wife Frances Jones

Frances Jones (mother of Martha Dandridge Washington)

Frances Orlando Jones was born in New Kent County, Virginia, where she also died.Frances married John Dandridge on July 22, 1730 in New Kent County, Virginia...

. The couple raised their eight children, including Martha Washington

Martha Washington

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States...

, there. It was at Chestnut Grove that Martha married her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis

Daniel Parke Custis

Daniel Parke Custis was a wealthy Virginia planter whose widow, Martha, married George Washington.He was the son of John Custis , a powerful member of Virginia's Governor's Council, and Frances Parke Custis...

, on 15 May 1750.

In 1768, Martha Washington's younger brother Bartholomew Dandridge

Bartholomew Dandridge

Bartholomew Dandridge was an early American lawyer, jurist, and planter.-Early life:Dandridge was born in 1737 at Chestnut Grove in New Kent County, Virginia. He was the fourth child and third eldest son of John Dandridge and his wife Frances Jones...

 sold Chestnut Grove and its accompanying 500 acres (2 km²). Colonel Richard Pye Cooke then purchased the mansion in 1840. At that time, the Chestnut Grove estate contained 1175 acres (4.8 km²). Unlike neighboring plantation homes, Chestnut Grove continued to serve as a residence for 200 years in its original state until it burned down in November 1926.

Architecture

Chestnut Grove's architectural details survive due to old photographs and sketches. The mansion was a two-story frame structure with a hip roof

Hip roof

A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...

 and a chimney at either end. It also contained a basement

Basement

__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...

which ran the length of the mansion. The interior of Chestnut Grove was plain and paneled in pine.