 | A history of Caroline county, Virginia |  |
PROSPECT HILL
About ten miles south of Fredericksburg on the Tidewater
Trail is a slightly traveled road leading off on the right in a
southeasterly direction to Prospect Hill, one of the most beautiful
estates in Caroline county. The present house, a substantial
brick structure, occupies the site of the old Battaile mansion,
and was erected by Basil Gordon, whose daughter, Mrs. Charles
Herndon, of Fredericksburg, remembers that when but a little
child a workman held her up so she might have a part in placing
a brick in the walls.
The house itself, without the lovely natural beauty surrounding,
is most attractive. Its spacious rooms, wide halls, beautiful
woodwork, remarkable pillars all speak of a past of wealth and
splendor.
The driveway to this old home is over-arched with great
branches of oak, sycamore, maple and elm and the brick walkways
around the house are overgrown with moss, which adds the
charming touch of age. The vines clinging close to the walls
and the great shade trees on the lawn remind one of the beautiful
old homes in "Merrie England." The adjacent woods are also
interesting aside from their natural beauty, for here are old gun
pits and breastworks, relics of the War between the States.
The location of Prospect Hill, which, by the way, suggested
the name of the place, leaves nothing to be desired. The old
Virginian not only had in mind the practical side when he chose
a site for his house, but the aesthetic as well. Here may be seen
miles of gently swelling hills, beautiful Rappahannock Valleys
and the Rappahannock itself, like a silvery ribbon, as it courses
to the sea.
It was here that Colonel Henry Fitzhugh, of "Bedford"
across the Rappahannock, married Sarah Battaile in October
For further description, especially for a description of the beautiful
flower garden, see Historic Gardens of Virginia, by Edith Tunis
Sale, from which the foregoing is largely taken.
| A history of Caroline county, Virginia | |