We are taking a looking at houses and farms along Trappe Road north of Upperville. Today, in Part Five, we look at Cleremont.
Less than a mile north of Windsor Farm lies Cleremont. I had high hopes of seeing it closer than from Trappe Road. Google maps shows what looks like two different public roads to reach it. But the former says private entrance and the latter is blocked by a fencing gate. It’s tempting to be annoyed, but these are places that are protected for a reason and I respect that. And the Legacy Site website has a wonderful set of photos and info.
Scheel does not mark Windsor Farm on his map, but the National Register for Historic Places delivers the goods.
The Cleremont story bring the Rust family back into the picture. Like subjects appearing on Paul Harvey’s “Page Two,” they have emerged in this story of the lands north of Upperville.
Note: Elizabeth Rust (1756-1850), the mother of General George Rust Jr. (1788-1857) is shown as being laid to rest at the Moss Cemetery, which we mentioned in the first part of this write-up. Her husband was Lt. George Rust, who served in the Continental Army. Their son, General George Rust, Jr. (1788-1857), served in the War of 1812.
In 1761, four years after the county was founded out of part of Fairfax County, William Rust (1720-1799), originally from Westmoreland County on Virginia’s Northern Neck, acquired and built a simple cottage. He and his wife Monica had eight children. Rust served as surveyor of roads and constable.
In his final days, Rust was living at a house he built at what is now Windsor Farm. In 1801, this former Rust land was partitioned, with the Windsor part to the south going to his daughter Anne Rust Bogges. We touched on this during our look at Windsor.
The oldest part of the present main dwelling house, a two-bay stone structure in the Federal style, was built by Rust’s youngest son George Rust (1760-1850) around 1820. George Rust served as a Lieutenant during the American Revolution and was married in 1786 to Elizabeth Rust Dunbar, his cousin. The farm was known as Meadowview.
In 1846, George Rust Sr. left for Arkansas. He gave the house and farm to his son, George Rust Jr. (1778-1857), but he lived mostly elsewhere. He married Maria Claggett Marlow of Prince George’s County and served during the War of 1812. In 1824, he became a Brigadier General. The family lived at Rocklands and Exeter near Leesburg. In 1832 they sold Meadowview to his cousin John. M. Harrison of Windsor, but it went back to Rust in 1839.
In 1849, Rust sold Meadowview to Addison B. Carter and moved to Baltimore. He passed away in 1857. In 1879, Carter sold Meadoview and moved to Winchester. Henry A. Hall and his wife Susan acquired the property. They renamed it Cleremont.
The owners when the form was prepared in 1997 were Mr. and Mrs. George A. Horkan, Jr, who acquired it in 1962. The pedimented portico was added in 1940.
There are six contributing buildings - the original stone dwelling (1761), present part (1820-1835 and added on 1870 and 1980), stone kitchen (late 19c or early 20c), tenant house c.1940, and stone carriage mount from early 20c.
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