“Wonder” is the only word that adequately describes a visit to Hedgeland Manor in Waterford, a kid, pet and adult paradise. The property spans 40 acres and is surrounded with wide meadows, ancient trees and an acre lake, conveying a sense of perfect privacy. One can look in every direction and not see another home while taking in breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge from every vista of the manor home and “barn.”
Though they call the hand-crafted, timber-framed structure of reclaimed Douglas fir behind the house a barn, it could double as a clubhouse for many of the best resorts in Loudoun County. Impeccably crafted, the structure boasts a climate-controlled garage for up to eight vehicles on the ground floor and a 3,800-square-foot recreation space on the second. Gleaming tobacco pine floors and broad windows fill the space with light. The current owner's love of entertaining is evident from the wide countertops and Vulcan range in the fully featured kitchen. There are even a bedroom and full bath for guests electing to stay over...or perhaps just never wanting to leave!
Between the barn and main house lies a heated pool with travertine decking and a separate three-bedroom, one-bath carriage house.
Of course, the main event is the 4,300-square-foot main residence with four bedrooms, three full baths and two half baths, eight working fireplaces, original hardwood floors and a state-of-the-art multi-zone heating, ventilation and cooling system. Were it not for the outline of the original separate kitchen on the rear brick wall, “walk-in” fireplace and English kitchen surrounded by greater than three-foot-thick stone walls on the lower level, it would be hard to imagine that families have doted on the place for more than 200 years.
The earliest historical reference to a home on the property dates between 1790 and 1800. Oral history traces its original ownership through a purchase by a Colonel Hamilton from Lord Fairfax for 1,000 pounds sterling. An addition, including an expansive sunroom, was built in the 1930s when the property spanned 250 acres. By 1980, it was subdivided into nine parcels, four of which constitute the current pastoral estate.
Washington Fine Properties, which offers the house for sale, dubs it an “architectural and aesthetic masterpiece,” but only seeing is believing. Start with a video tour (Vimeo.com/332340856), then contact either Jim Lemon (703.203.9766) or Debbie Meighan (571.439.4027) to be treated to the real thing.
