Seaton Place, Middleburg, Virginia

Circa 1846, what has today become one of Virginia’s vintage gems was created just to the east of the even-then fashionable little village of Middleburg. Over the many years that followed, history records that Seaton Place had such illustrious owners as Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee. It is easy to imagine those early glory days when you step into the classic Federal brick farmhouse and a lovely long pine-planked floor greets you, its simple wood staircase rising to the bedrooms. The superb old pine floors continue into a charming living room that feasts on the estate’s 42.5 rolling acres of beautiful Piedmont Hunt countryside—a parklike pastorale interwoven with venerable trees, a spring-fed pond with dock, and an ever-flowing creek named Gap Run. The dining room has equal charm, displaying deep window sills, a fireplace, and the same antique pine floors. A more recent addition, the library, which opens to a large screened porch, enjoys still another fireplace along with a welcoming wet bar. An original massive fireplace and exposed beams endear you to the kitchen, the cherished hearth-warmed heart of the house with a family room flanked by doors on two sides that lead to the outdoors. Upstairs, there are two pine-floored bedrooms, both with fireplaces, and a handsome master bedroom offering a fireplace, sitting room, two full baths, and a dressing room. Above, a treetop-view attic yields two more rooms—one can only imagine the children of earlier generations treasuring them as their own little playrooms. Everywhere, Seaton Place is filled with a sense of the past. It is that kind of house. A house where your imagination takes over and invites you to reflect on the simple elegance of an earlier era. An era of leisurely afternoon garden parties, challenging fox hunts, and evening dinners illuminated by candlelight—an era that, though past, lives on with the same spirit today.

Estate Gallery