• Skip to main content

October 3-5 | 10am-5pm | Waterford, Virginia

Waterford Fair

80th American Crafts & Historic Homes Tour

  • Historic Homes Tour
  • Entertainment
  • Food & Libations
  • Kids Unplugged
  • Tickets
  • Fair Map
  • 2024 Fair Booklet
  • Fair FAQs
  • Pet Policy +
  • Sponsors

2024 Homes

Griffith-Gover Property

June 30, 2017 by [email protected]

40139 Main Street

This property backing up to the Phillips Farm comprises three of the fifteen lots in Waterford’s 1792 subdivision. Quaker merchant Richard Griffith was leasing the property by 1796, and by 1799 it included a two-story log house and a store. In 1819 his son Israel sold a portion of the property to fellow Quaker Jesse Gover, who operated a store and “hat manufactory” among other enterprises. Gover bought the rest of the property in 1836.

His son Samuel, in turn, served the village for many years as storekeeper and postmaster. Sam’s Union sympathies made his store a target of Confederate raids during the Civil War. By then the current property included the house and two substantial weatherboard buildings along the street to the left, that were later owned by William French.

Early in the 20th century the James family acquired the land and buildings. Edgar Clayton James operated a store here. When he died in 1918, his widow, the former Annie Elizabeth “Lizzie” Hough, ran a boardinghouse to make ends meet—the Oldtown Inn. Clarence Hopkins, who married one of the James’s daughters, Carrie, was an engineer for Edison Labs. He erected a dance pavilion and large masonry megaphone for the benefit of Inn guests. At about the same time, the decrepit store buildings along the street were removed and the adjacent millrace was enlarged for canoeing.

In October 1922, the Washington Herald enthusiastically wrote:

“Waterford, Va., is now one of the busiest radio towns in the country, according to reports received here. Radio users there have constructed a loud speaking horn of concrete and granite with a diameter of six feet. The horn weighs eight tons. Folks in that vicinity now hear a variety of entertainment from Pittsburgh and other cities. When the horn was first demonstrated, one resident there, it is claimed, heard music one mile and a half away from Waterford and came down to discover what was ‘goin’ on down thar.’”

Norman Weatherholtz, a stonemason and carpenter, bought the place in 1944 and added his own touches over the years until his death in 1998. He is responsible for much of the stonework in the village, including work on this home.

Cornelia Keller of nearby Hamilton purchased the house the following year. It had fallen into considerable disrepair and presented significant challenges to Ms. Keller and her rescue team. Now, thanks to a conservation easement through the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the house, gardens, stone wall and eclectic structures are protected in perpetuity.

Jonathan Daniel and Lee Spangler bought the house in 2014 and couldn’t be more thrilled with being its current stewards.

The Griffith-Gover House is open through the courtesy of Jonathan Daniel and Lee Spangler.

Filed Under: 2024 Homes, Saturday

Samuel Hough House

June 30, 2017 by [email protected]

15527 Second Street

This Federal-style house was built in 1819 by Samuel Hough Jr., on land which he purchased for $240 in 1817. This is one of the most elegantly embellished houses in Waterford, with keystone lintels, an unusual and striking cornice, and beautifully carved interior woodwork.
 
Samuel Hough was a Quaker, but his bride was not. Waterford’s Quakers were not very tolerant of any deviation among their members, and Samuel was read out of the Meeting.  He and his wife lived in the house only a year before moving out of Waterford.  They sold the house to Samuel’s mother, Lydia Hollingsworth Hough, for $3,500, an enormous sum in those days. Lydia seems to have been very fond
of Samuel, and it was her way of passing his inheritance on to him in advance!

Jacob Scott lived in the house during the Civil War, and was “CEO” of Waterford’s largest enterprise, Loudoun Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Although the Board of Directors was split between Unionists and Secessionists, Scott and President William Williams provided the leadership to enable the company to emerge from the War in fine shape. It is still operating on High Street today.

This building is open through the courtesy of Corrine Jacques and Matt Donnelly.

Filed Under: 2024 Homes, Sunday

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Privacy policy

Phone: 540-882-3018
[email protected]
Waterford Old School
40222 Fairfax Street
Waterford, Virginia 20197


Copyright © 2025 · Waterford Foundation · Log in