Northern Neck Now

Proudly placed atop a high ridge with a sweeping view of the Rappahannock River Valley, Grove Mount was built ca 1797 for Robert Mitchell and his wife, Priscilla Carter Mitchell. Mitchell was a planter, sheriff, and justice of Richmond County. His aristocratic wife was a daughter of Robert (“Councillor”) Carter of Nomini Hall of Westmoreland County, and sister of George Carter of Oatlands in Loudoun County. With its hipped roof and carefully proportioned five-bay façade, the exterior of this frame plantation house maintains the traditional restrained Georgian organization of colonial mansions. The opposite side of Grove Mount departs slightly from the formula with its projecting ell. The similarity of the interior woodwork to that formerly in nearby Menokin, especially the stair railing with its diagonally set balusters, strongly suggests common joiners. On the grounds of Grove Mount are an 18th-century dairy and remnants of an early terraced garden.

Grove Mount