The Hermitage (Charles Town, West Virginia)

The Hermitage
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Charles Town, West Virginia
Coordinates	39°14′53″N 77°50′30″W / 39.24806°N 77.84167°WCoordinates: 39°14′53″N 77°50′30″W / 39.24806°N 77.84167°W
Architect	Unknown
Architectural style	Early Republic, Late Victorian, Other
NRHP Reference #	93001444
Added to NRHP	December 23, 1993[1]

The Hermitage near Charles Town, West Virginia is historic property which includes several buildings, as well as non-contributing tennis courts and a pool. The oldest structure is a small stone cottage dating to circa 1734, making it one of the oldest buildings in West Virginia. It resembles Prato Rio in nearby Leetown, West Virginia and may date to this property's first owner, Daniel Barnett, who was a partner in the Burr Iron Works (a/k/a the Bloomery forge) circa 1740, the first of its kind in the state. A stone privy is also believed to be the oldest structure of its kind in the state.

The two story wooden farmhouse (incorporating an old log structure in the back) is associated primarily with the Chew family, who moved into the house from Loudoun County, Virginia in the mid-19th century, when Roger Preston Chew was three. The L-shape is due to an incorporated stone cookhouse wing. As a Virginia Military Institute cadet, Chew helped control crowds attending the execution of John Brown after his raid on nearby Harper's Ferry. Col. Roger Chew later became a distinguished Confederate artillery and cavalry officer. During the American Civil War, Chew's flying artillery was engaged in more skirmishes and battles than any battery in the Confederate Army, and Col. Chew eventually commanded five battalions of two batteries.^[2]

Both Roger and his brother Robert (who also served in the Confederate light artillery), rebuilt the estate after the war's end, and the interior was extensively remodeled during the Victorian era.

In 1871, Chew married Louise Fontaine Washington, daughter of the last owner of Mount Vernon, at Blakeley.^[3] He then became an important business man in the area, as well as a delegate to the West Virginia Legislature from 1882-1888.

References

1. National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
2. NRIS p. 13 citing Bushong p. 206
3. Jean T. Crolius (January 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination: The Hermitage" (pdf). National Park Service.