September 2, 2019 / Joanne Yeck

Buckingham County Houses: Ivy Hill, Part II

“Ivy Hill,” Virginia Historical Inventory. Courtesy Library of Virginia.

Click here to catch up: Buckingham County Houses: Ivy Hill, Part I

In 1937, Rosa G. Williams wrote about Ivy Hill for the Virginia Historical Survey. Located 1 mile north of Arvonia on Hwy. 15, the house sat 1.5 miles northwest off Rt. 652. Mrs. Williams described the house as follows:

This is a splendid James River farm but the yard of this old house is in a bad condition. Many of the old trees still stand but limbs have fallen from some of them due to the heavy winds and they lie just where they fell. The rose bushes and shrubs have been allowed to ramble with a will, and one can hardly get to the house. The dwelling house is also in a very poor condition although it has every mark of being at one time one of the best type of colonial homes. There are no porches; the entrance is by way of double doors into a very large hallway, which runs through the center of the house. There are seven rooms and a full size basement. On the right of the entrance is a very large living room; there are two upstairs rooms over this large downstairs room. To the left of the hall is a very large bedroom; and to the left of this room is another large room used as a bed-room, and there are rooms over these the same size as the downstairs rooms. The rooms are all plastered, with a narrow baseboard next to the floor. The rooms are very high-pitched. The timbers in this house are all hand sawed, put together with wooden pegs and shop made nails. All corner posts hewn out of huge trees.

Coming next: Buckingham County Houses: Ivy Hill, Part III