Ashburn Homes For Sale


	Ashburn Houses for Sale

Ashburn

Ashburn's beginnings trace back to the 1720s, when Thomas Lee and Robert Carter tried to outwit each other by buying up strategic pieces of the Virginia countryside. Each sought to control the commercial destiny of the colony. Lee, influenced by Britain's success on the seas, held the theory that control of the waterways equaled control of the colony. Belmont, Lee's grandson's Ashburn estate, is situated near the Potomac River and Goose Creek. Carter, nicknamed "King" because he owned vast quantities of land, felt destiny would reward the man who controlled land transportation, so he purchased land that controlled the approaches to mountain passes.

Ashburn was originally called Farmwell (alternative names Old Farmwell, Farmwell Station) after a nearby mansion of that name owned by George Lee, great-grandson of Thomas Lee. The name Farmwell first appeared in George's October, 1802 will and was used to describe the 1,236 acre plantation he inherited from his father, Thomas Ludwell Lee II.

The agricultural village changed into a commercial village when the railroad arrived in 1860 at Farmwell Station, although the Civil War (1861-1865) and the depression that followed delayed the change.

The section of Farmwell plantation located west of Ashburn Road, a 580-acre tract, was purchased in 1841 by lawyer and almost vice president John Janney, a Quaker, as a summer home. He called the property Ashburn Farm (first known written use is 1870 when he sold the property). The term “ashburn” apparently refers to a grove of ash trees by a burn, an Old English word for spring or stream. The stream in question was likely Beaverdam Run.

Too far from Washington to be a railroad suburb, during its heyday (1880-1920), Ashburn grew into the largest commercial center in Loudoun County east of Leesburg. It was also a summer resort for people escaping the heat of the city. The Ashburn House, built in 1882 and now a purple-painted private residence, was a popular hotel frequented by fisherman desirous of trying the excellent bass fishing in nearby Goose Creek.

Ashburn is home to four landmarks on the National Register of Historic Places: Belmont Plantation (1799), the Broad Run Bridge and Toll House (1820), the sanctuary of Ashburn Presbyterian Church (1878), and Janelia Farm (1936).