Fairfield Plantation (Gloucester County, Virginia)
Fairfield plantation was a historic tobacco plantation from 17th century Colony of Virginia, owned by the Burwell family of Virginia from 1642 to 1787. The house was destroyed in 1897 due to fire. It is now an archaeological site that also includes slave quarters, a large formal garden, and the Burwell family cemetery. Archaeological research has been led by the Fairfield Foundation archaeologists David Brown And Thane Harpole.
Fairfield Plantation | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Virginia Landmarks Register | |
Overview, planted in corn | |
| Nearest city | White Marsh, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°20′29″N 76°33′14″W |
| Area | 220 acres (89 ha) |
| Built | 1692 |
| Built by | Lewis Burwell (1621–1653) |
| NRHP reference No. | 73002019 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | July 16, 1973 |
| Designated VLR | February 20, 1973 |
| External image | |
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| Map of Fairfield within Colonial Virginia |
Built in 1694, the brick manor at Fairfield was described as what was once "the most sophisticated sophisticated classical house built in British North America to that date" by Cary Carson, retired Colonial Williamsburg research chief. It was built to emulate the houses of the gentry in London.
The house had Flemish-bond brick walls and a 62-foot veranda on the front of the structure that overlooked the large formal garden. It had extra-large rectangular sash windows, and the first known use of a hipped roof with dormers in the colony. At the time the house was built, most of the other buildings were built on posts sunk in the earth. Fairfield Plantation became a National Register of Historic Places listing on July 16, 1973. It is also a Virginia Historic Landmark as of February 20, 1973.