Raspberry Plain
Encyclopedia
39°9′33.6"N 77°32′53.1"W
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
.
granted the title to the 322 acres (1.3 km²) Raspberry Plain property to blacksmith
Joseph Dixon in 1731. In 1754, the "houses, buildings, orchard, ways and watercourses" of Raspberry Plain were purchased by Loudoun County's first sheriff
, Aeneas Campbell. Under Campbell's ownership, the property became the site of Loudoun County's first jailhouse. Raspberry Plain was then purchased by George Mason
's younger brother Thomson Mason
from Campbell, in 1760. 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. The mansion at Raspberry Plain was added to throughout the 19th-century and demolished around 1910. 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. That mansion has long since disappeared. In 1910, Raspberry Plain was rebuilt for copper millionaire John Guthrie Hopkins. Raspberry Plain, along with several neighboring estates including nearby Mason family estates Temple Hall
and Locust Hill
, is a contributing property in the 25000 acres (101.2 km²) Catoctin Rural Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places
on 31 January 1989.
brick dwelling with gambrel-roofed
brick wings. It was replaced by the present large Colonial Revival
brick mansion around 1910. The -story, Flemish bond brick dwelling possesses a two-story tetrastyle Roman
Doric
portico
with a lunette
in the triangular pediment
. A row of four pedimented dormer
s extends across the slate
gable roof with overhanging eaves
and a wide frieze
with dentil
s encircles the building. Windows are six-over-six double-sash types with louvered shutters and wood lintels. A large central Palladian
window sheltered by the portico is the dominant feature of the house. Several tenant houses, farm buildings, gambrel-roofed barns, a bank barn, and stables are scattered around the farm.
Raspberry Plain is a historic property and former 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...
in Loudoun County
Loudoun County, Virginia
Loudoun County is a county located in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and is part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, the county is estimated to be home to 312,311 people, an 84 percent increase over the 2000 figure of 169,599. That increase makes the county the fourth...
, 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...
, near Leesburg
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
. Raspberry Plain was one of the principal Mason family estates of Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia
Northern Virginia consists of several counties and independent cities in the Commonwealth of Virginia, in a widespread region generally radiating southerly and westward from Washington, D.C...
.
History
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of CameronThomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron
Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron was the son of Thomas Fairfax, 5th Lord Fairfax of Cameron and of Catherine, daughter of Thomas Culpeper, 2nd Baron Culpeper of Thoresway....
granted the title to the 322 acres (1.3 km²) Raspberry Plain property to blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
Joseph Dixon in 1731. In 1754, the "houses, buildings, orchard, ways and watercourses" of Raspberry Plain were purchased by Loudoun County's first sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, Aeneas Campbell. Under Campbell's ownership, the property became the site of Loudoun County's first jailhouse. Raspberry Plain was then purchased by George Mason
George Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
's younger brother Thomson Mason
Thomson Mason
Thomson Mason was a prominent Virginia lawyer, jurist, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Mason was a younger brother of George Mason IV, United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S...
from Campbell, in 1760. 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
Stevens Thomson Mason (Virginia)
Stevens Thomson Mason was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a member of the Virginia state legislature and a Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia .-Early life and military career:...
, U.S. senator from Virginia. The mansion at Raspberry Plain was added to throughout the 19th-century and demolished around 1910. Senator Mason's son, Armistead Thomson Mason
Armistead Thomson Mason
Armistead Thomson Mason , the son of Stevens Thomson Mason, was a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1816 to 1817.-Early life and education:...
, of Selma
Selma (Leesburg, Virginia)
Selma is a historic property and former plantation in Loudoun County, Virginia, near Leesburg. Selma is best known as the residence of Armistead Thomson Mason , a U.S...
, was shot and killed by his cousin, John Mason McCarty, in a duel fought at the Bladensburg dueling grounds
Bladensburg dueling grounds
Bladensburg Dueling Grounds is a small spit of land, along Dueling Creek formerly, in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland and now within the town of Colmar Manor, which is northeast of Washington, D.C., United States, an area which hosted over fifty bloody pistol duels mostly fought using a duelling...
in Bladensburg
Bladensburg, Maryland
Bladensburg is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 7,661 at the 2000 census.Bladensburg is from central Washington, DC...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, 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. That mansion has long since disappeared. In 1910, Raspberry Plain was rebuilt for copper millionaire John Guthrie Hopkins. Raspberry Plain, along with several neighboring estates including nearby Mason family estates Temple Hall
Temple Hall
Temple Hall is an early 19th-century Federal-style mansion and working farm near the Potomac River north of Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia.-History:...
and Locust Hill
Locust Hill (Leesburg, Virginia)
Locust Hill is an early 19th-century Federal-style mansion north of Leesburg in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. Locust Hill was the home of John Thomson Mason , a prominent American jurist and Attorney General of Maryland in 1806 and nephew of Founding Father of the United States George...
, is a contributing property in the 25000 acres (101.2 km²) Catoctin Rural Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on 31 January 1989.
Present Day
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-styleGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
brick dwelling with gambrel-roofed
Gambrel
A gambrel is a usually-symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maximizing headroom on the building's upper level...
brick wings. It was replaced by the present large Colonial Revival
Colonial Revival architecture
The Colonial Revival was a nationalistic architectural style, garden design, and interior design movement in the United States which sought to revive elements of Georgian architecture, part of a broader Colonial Revival Movement in the arts. In the early 1890s Americans began to value their own...
brick mansion around 1910. The -story, Flemish bond brick dwelling possesses a two-story tetrastyle Roman
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted certain aspects of Ancient Greek architecture, creating a new architectural style. The Romans were indebted to their Etruscan neighbors and forefathers who supplied them with a wealth of knowledge essential for future architectural solutions, such as hydraulics...
Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
portico
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...
with a lunette
Lunette
In architecture, a lunette is a half-moon shaped space, either filled with recessed masonry or void. A lunette is formed when a horizontal cornice transects a round-headed arch at the level of the imposts, where the arch springs. If a door is set within a round-headed arch, the space within the...
in the triangular pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
. A row of four pedimented dormer
Dormer
A dormer is a structural element of a building that protrudes from the plane of a sloping roof surface. Dormers are used, either in original construction or as later additions, to create usable space in the roof of a building by adding headroom and usually also by enabling addition of windows.Often...
s extends across the slate
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
gable roof with overhanging eaves
Eaves
The eaves of a roof are its lower edges. They usually project beyond the walls of the building to carry rain water away.-Etymology:"Eaves" is derived from Old English and is both the singular and plural form of the word.- Function :...
and a wide frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
with dentil
Dentil
In classical architecture a dentil is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect Vitruvius In classical architecture a dentil (from Lat. dens, a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice.The Roman architect...
s encircles the building. Windows are six-over-six double-sash types with louvered shutters and wood lintels. A large central Palladian
Palladian architecture
Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...
window sheltered by the portico is the dominant feature of the house. Several tenant houses, farm buildings, gambrel-roofed barns, a bank barn, and stables are scattered around the farm.
Burial ground
The following people are interred in the Mason family burial ground at Raspberry Plain:- Thomson MasonThomson MasonThomson Mason was a prominent Virginia lawyer, jurist, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Mason was a younger brother of George Mason IV, United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S...
(14 August 1733–26 February 1785) - Mary King Barnes Mason (died 21 October 1771), first wife of Thomson Mason and mother of Stevens Thomson MasonStevens Thomson Mason (Virginia)Stevens Thomson Mason was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a member of the Virginia state legislature and a Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia .-Early life and military career:...
- Stevens Thomson MasonStevens Thomson Mason (Virginia)Stevens Thomson Mason was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a member of the Virginia state legislature and a Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia .-Early life and military career:...
(29 December 1760–9 May 1803), son of Thomson MasonThomson MasonThomson Mason was a prominent Virginia lawyer, jurist, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Mason was a younger brother of George Mason IV, United States patriot, statesman, and delegate from Virginia to the U.S... - Armistead Thomson MasonArmistead Thomson MasonArmistead Thomson Mason , the son of Stevens Thomson Mason, was a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1816 to 1817.-Early life and education:...
(4 August 1787–6 February 1819), son of Stevens Thomson MasonStevens Thomson Mason (Virginia)Stevens Thomson Mason was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, a member of the Virginia state legislature and a Republican U.S. Senator from Virginia .-Early life and military career:...