Francis Land Historic Home

We needed something to do today, so we decided to head over to a local historical site and see what it was. We've lived here for so long and had driven by a million times and had never stopped.

The house was built circa 1805, but the property was deeded to the Land family since the early 1630's and was originally surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmland. The home that sits on the site is that of the homestead of Francis Land IV. He was a wealthy man and plantation owner in the Princess Anne County area of Virginia, now known as Virginia Beach.

The architecture of the outside is classic Georgian and the internal is revised to Federal style. The Francis Land Family only lived in this house until 1819 when the Francis and his wife died. The home stayed with the two Land daughters until about 1851 when it was sold to a non family member. It was a farm, a dairy farm, and eventually in the 1920's a fine ladies dress shop. Virginia Beach City stepped in and bought the house and it's surrounding 7 acres and created the museum in 1986. The house is officially listed as a Virginia Historical Landmark

The tree to the left was a three pronged tree and was struck by lightening. An arborist attempted to save the tree by filling the joint with cement and bricks. It's nearly grown over the bricks and the tree was saved! It was an interesting place and I really enjoyed the afternoon.

:) Michelle