Beautiful Bellmont
For those of you who asked for more about the Bell’s dwelling house at Bellmont. . .
In 1937, when Rosa Garnett Williams surveyed the once lovely Bell home, it likely had passed its 180th anniversary and the “quaint old house” was in “a very deplorable condition.” The decades had taken their toll on the Bell seat and the Great Depression made timely restoration unlikely. Describing the 18th century house in great detail, she wrote: “It is situated on a knoll, and is surrounded by several of the original old oaks, there are also several boxwood and a large magnolia tree at the end of the porch. A small front porch with a large six panel door opens into a large reception room. . . .” At the time, the house contained “lovely” paneled wainscoting and four of the doors were said to have been imported from England. Shop-made nails, wooden pegs, and hand-sawed timber, all bespoke the house’s beginnings in what was then Virginia wilderness.
To access my article, “Bellmont: An Early Buckingham Plantation” (Buckingham Beacon, June 2012), follow this link:
“Bellmont: An Early Buckingham Plantation”
slate river ramblings . . . . 
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