Buckingham Houses: Mount Pleasant

Photo courtesy Samuel P. Clarke

In 1960, Charlottesville’s Daily Progress ran an unsigned article about the history of Buckingham County’s Mount Pleasant entitled: “Patteson Heirs Still Have Original Mt. Pleasant Grant.”  At the time, Miss Lulie Patteson was a regular correspondent for the newspaper and it seems likely that she either wrote the article or provided the information.  Notably, Mount Pleasant, built in about 1796 by Maj. David Patteson, had remained in the family since the land was originally granted. In 1960, the home was owned by Mrs. O. P. Maxey.

The first dwelling houses on the land were wooden homes, followed by the large brick one built by Maj. Patteson. The article goes on to describe it:

Mt. Pleasant was made of brick molded on the place. It has a full basement, a double hall and four rooms on the first floor; a double hall and four rooms on the second floor. Two stairways lead from the first to the second floor; a single stairway takes one from the second floor to the two attic rooms. Modern conveniences, such as bathrooms, have been added in recent years.

The equally mature grounds included notable boxwood:

Priceless boxwood hedges enclose the great lawn and many old oaks shade its green expanse. To have remained in the possession of the same family for well over 200 years is indeed a unique distinction for any estate. It now belongs to the six children of the late George W. Patteson, who was a Confederate Veteran and one time treasurer of Buckingham County.

Photo courtesy Samuel P. Clarke

Additionally, the article speculates about the family graveyard:

It is not known how many of this family’s deceased members have been laid to their resting place in the cemetery here. But there are many, many graves as could be expected from the four or five generations since the first internments. And Maj. David and Judith had twelve children themselves.

Coming next: Buckingham Notables: The Patteson Family