The Fairfield Foundation recently acquired three parcels totaling seven acres adjacent the Walter Reed Birthplace in Belroi, to protect this historic landscape in perpetuity.
The largely wooded parcels, located to the north and west of the small house where Walter Reed was born in 1851, will be managed with the goal of preserving the natural and rural qualities of the land, according to Fairfield Foundation co-director Thane Harpole.
The Fairfield Foundation is a longtime supporter of preservation efforts at the birthplace, having acquired another adjacent one-acre parcel in 2015.
“The Fairfield Foundation is happy to assist with protecting the landscape surrounding the birthplace” said Harpole. “The building is an important example of early 19th-century architecture, and the associated archaeological resources have many stories to tell about the Belroi community.”
The effort to protect this land goes back to the early 2000s, when Catesby Jones, John and Marsha Gillis and Donald P. Roane sought to prevent several houses from being built close to the Gloucester birthplace property. They spent the intervening years working to reduce the debt with the eventual goal of preserving it in perpetuity.
“The Fairfield Foundation is proud to assume the responsibility for these parcels, paying off the remaining debt, and placing the land under a conservation easement with Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources,” Harpole said. “This will achieve the original goals and ensure that the land remains undeveloped.”
SONABANK worked with the initial group on a mortgage for the property and has made a donation of $7,500 to help the Fairfield Foundation with reducing the remaining debt. “It is an honor to assist with the preservation of this important Gloucester site,” SONABANK Senior VP Rick Fulk said. “And SONABANK is proud to invest in the things that matter most to our community.”
The Fairfield Foundation will continue to work closely with the board of the Gloucester Preservation Foundation, which owns and operates the birthplace, to ensure that the house and grounds will continue to host visitors, scouting groups and others.
The goal is to keep most of the property in forest to ensure an adequate visual buffer from surrounding homes, while allowing for various activities to take place on the property.
“The birthplace is an important stop on Gloucester’s historic Route 614 corridor, and the Gloucester Preservation Foundation is thrilled to partner with the Fairfield Foundation to ensure that this resource can continue to educate visitors for generations to come” said GPF chairman Dr. David A. Brown.
For more information about Fairfield’s plans for the property, or to schedule a visit to the birthplace, contact fairfield@fairfieldfoundation.org.