Ravensworth Plantation

Built 1797, for William Fitzhugh (1741-1809) and his wife Ann Bolling Randolph (1747-1805). The Fitzhughs lived at Chatham Manor but built this house for the overseer of this part of their vast estate. In 1685, William's ancestor, Colonel William Fitzhugh (1651-1701) had purchased 24,000 acres in Fairfax County, a plantation that he named "Ravensworth" for the 14th century Fitzhugh family seat in back in England, Ravensworth Castle in North Yorkshire. During the Civil War another Fitzhugh cousin, General Charles Fitzhugh (1838-1923), was billeted here with the Union Army and so impressed with it was he that he named his summer home in Cobourg, Ravensworth.