Northern Neck Now

Robert (“King”) Carter’s three sons each built a Georgian mansion on a plantation given to them by their father. Of the three, only Sabine Hall near Warsaw in Richmond County, the ca. 1738-42 home of Landon Carter, survives. Still owned by Carter’s descendants, the architecturally formal mansion was endowed with the requisite geometric proportions and fine brickwork, and was enriched with rusticated sandstone center bays. A ca. 1829 remodeling resulted in the present window sash, the north portico, and the lowering of the hipped roof. The wings are also later alterations, although the southeast wing incorporates an early dependency. The stately paneled hall is one of the country’s finest colonial rooms. The carved walnut stair, ascending in a lateral passage, likewise is one of the finest of the period. Sabine Hall’s terraced garden, which retains its original layout, is an important example of formal colonial landscaping.

Sabine Hall