In horse and hunt country, a standard practice with mansion homes was to place the house a ways back from the road. A notable exception is Rose Hill Farm in Upperville. The lovely red brick house (34090 John Mosby Highway) lies just 100 yards from Route 50, about halfway between Upperville and Middleburg. Its placement derives from its origins as a tavern. In fact, in those days, Ashby's Gap Turnpike, what is now Route 50, ran right beside the tavern.
Rose Hill is not as famous as some of the others we have looked at, but it’s on the 1994 National Register for Historic Places nomination form and Audrey Windsor Bergner included in her book, “Old Plantations and Historical Homes around Middleburg, Virginia.”
On land once owned by Carters, and a spot roughly halfway between Upperville and Middleburg and a short walk from Pantherskin Creek, Rose Hill was built in three stages. It includes slave quarters originally not attached to the house, an octagonal icehouse, stone granary, a small stone bridge, a meat house, and the Denham family cemetery.
At the time the form was written, Rose Hill had remained a working farm and was owned by Glascock descendants.
Rose Hill Farm dates to c. 1820 when a Federal style house was built for Amos Denham. He had been living in the Ellicott City area. His second wife was Amy. They opened the dwelling as a tavern serving travelers along Ashby’s Gap Turnpike. Travelers between Winchester and Alexandria would have been impressed with the tavern building, perhaps one of the best around.
After Denham passed in 1833, Rose Hill went to his widow Amy. She passed away in 1853.
Thomas Glascock then bought the property. As Bergner points out, the Glascocks are intertwined with other families in these parts, such as Rust and Fletcher. Peter Glascock founded the village of Paris and had served with Continental Army forces during the American Revolution.
Thomas Glascock expanded the farm to over 1,000 acres. He also added the fancy veranda with a grapevine design and the two-story nine-room stone slave quarters. It is one of the largest of its kind in Loudoun County. He probably added the three-story stone quarry. The form tells us it is the only known structure of its kind remaining in Loudoun County.
After the Civil War, which had brought damage to the farm’s barns, Glascock raised wheat, oats, corn, poultry and honey. He prospered when others in the county did not.
After Thomas Glascock passed away in 1884, his granddaughter, Tacie Glasscock Fletcher, inherited Rose Hill. In 1905, she married George H. Slater, grandson of George Glascock. The Slater family also dots stories in the upper Piedmont.
Tacie added the two-story brick wing that joined the former slave quarters and the main house. In a tradition thick with examples, Colonial Revival work has been made.
The two sons of Tacie and George attended the Episcopal Academy in Alexandria. Tom inherited Rose Hill. Tom and his wife Hylton Rucker had two sons. Tom Slater Jr, great, great, great grandson of Thomas Glascock, owned the farm in 2003.
In 2017, T. Rees Shapiro (The Washington Post), visited the farm and spoke with Bobby Slater. Shapiro noted the family has called the 300 acres home for eight generations. Across the street, Slater Run Vineyard is run by Kiernan Slater and her husband Chris Patusky. The vineyard is 100% solar powered.
Comments