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More About This House

Soldier's Rest, Circa 1780, 22.5 acres on the edge of Berryville. Offers you choices now: A serene Home to relax, B & B, Home and Play Space for Horses, Pets and Children, Artist's Studio, etc. House has screened porch and 10 rooms with History, great location and workmanship. Main barn and other useful buildings, fenced pastures, riding ring, creek, and trails. Real estate taxes only $2,605 per year.

How does it feel.....

My wife an I lived here since 1999 and have maintained the property as No Smoking.

We enjoyed all the seasons. In summer, we could relax or exercise daily in our 30ft x 15ft above-ground swimming pool (which if you do not want it, we will take with us!) and feel the breezes at night. We could have easily installed central air conditioning but never got around to it as three window ac units were enough for us.

Our horses enjoyed large areas to run around and graze and get water out of the creek or our automatic horse waterer. In winter, we only had to give them hay if snow was on the ground, which was almost rare. Clarke County area and the town of Berryville was great for pleasure riding. We often rode down to the Post Office to get our mail and meet people. On week days, a parking spaces in front of the post office was only 5 cents and easily accommodated two or three horses.

We could walk or bike easily to shops, restaurants or other places from our home. We enjoyed various cultural and artistic events nearby and my artist wife regularly had pictures for sale in the local art shows. Of course, she used one the very big bed rooms as her studio, just above the first floor library which was my office for writing, business, etc.

The long screen porch was a great place to entertain visitors and watch our pets, horses, birds, and other animals. Parking we never a problem- we even had a wedding shower with 35 ladies of various ages!

History

Soldier's Rest, on the outskirts of Berryville in Clarke County, Virginia is now the fourth oldest house in the county. This Federal-style house was built in the late 1770s or early 1780s for William and Rebecca Morton on a parcel first settled by Isaac Pennington in the 1730s, when the town was then called "Battletown".

When young Daniel Morgan came to Battletown, he lived at Soldier's Rest and leased the land for farming and growing produce to haul in his wagon. He organized the 1st Virginia Riflemen and was a major factor in beating the British at the Battle of Saratoga. He then employed Hessian prisoners to build a stone mansion for his home (called "Saratoga") in Boyce. Later, Gen. Morgan whipped the British again at the Battle of Cowpens. In 1800, Gen. Morgan purchased Soldier's Rest, but he had to move into a daughter's house in Winchester, VA to be close to his doctor and others.

George Washington visited the farm while surveying for Lord Fairfax in 1748, and stayed in a small cabin near the spring just east of the House.

In the 1810s Col. Griffin Taylor acquired the property (some think it was he who named it "Soldier's Rest") and led a regiment to Baltimore to fight off the British attack in 1814.

The house now remains much the same as it did in 1864 when it was sketched by an illustrator travelling the Shenandoah Valley with Gen. Phillip Sheridan.

So Soldier's Rest stands as one of Clarke County's earliest frame dwellings that is in relatively unaltered condition and in a pristine county setting, Both architecturally and historically, the property possesses integrity of association, design, feeling, location, material, workmanship, and setting.

Major Improvements and Repairs We Made:

Main House:

Painted all rooms in pleasant colors and added new wallpaper in some rooms.
Remodeled West and East Bathrooms (by Bathfitters)
Enclosed South Porch with screens.
Installed 30ftx15ft above-ground swimming pool.
Added padding and carpet in West Bedroom
Added water softener system.
New metal roof (factory painted long life) on south side of long section, with
full length roof vent added.
New metal roof (factory painted long life) on east side of front section.
Added 6 interconnected dual smoke detectors and dual CO detector.
Placed electric and telephone lines nearest house underground.
Updated wiring, replaced knob & tube ancient wiring & other out-dated wiring.
Added outside faucets and hydrants for garden watering.
Added stone walkways, flower gardens, new trees and bushes.
Upgraded gutters and downspouts.
Replaced two old furnaces with new Buderus with computer controls and some
circulating pumps that need no-maintenance
Replaced four old oil tanks with two new tanks.
Added piping and outlets in 1st floor West Room for washer and dryer.
Painted and properly rehung all shutters (with correct hardware) on
windows of front house (east face and sides).
Added extensive insulation in attic.

Horse Facilities:

Created 170ftx100ft riding ring with low maintenance fencing.
Created extensive system of riding trails in East and South Fields.
Added a Nelson horse waterer and additional frost-free hydrants.
Added additional lights and outlets in Main Barn.
Replaced old fencing and added fencing to protect Buckmarsh Creek and
provided additional pasture areas and paddocks.
Replaced seven old roof panels with factory painted long life panels on Main Barn.
Replaced water line to horse waterers and hydrants.

Other Buildings (income producing):

Replaced ten old roof panels with factory painted long life panels on Corn Crib.
Added additional lights and outlets in all buildings.