Country Zest and Style Summer 2021 Edition

SUMMER 2021

INSIDE: HAPPY TRAILS AT HILL TO THE RESCUE FEATHERED FRIENDS

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Happy Father’s Day To: Joe and Tray Allen, Greg and Will Ashwell, Tom and Chris Callaway

Personalities, Celebrations and Sporting Pursuits

110 E. Washington St. | P.O. Box 1380 | Middleburg, VA 20118 | 540.687.5588 | sheridanmacmahon.com

ALL’S WELL FARM MARSHALL, VIRGINIA

Prime Fauquier County location on the Atoka Road | 88.34 acres with bold Blue Ridge views | Neoclassical brick home with slate roof completely updated & expanded | 5 BR, 5 full, 2 half baths, 5 fireplaces, gourmet kitchen | 10 stall barn with attached indoor arena | Pool, pool house, tenant house | Beautiful gardens | Superb condition

$7,800,000 Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

DEERFIELD UPPERVILLE, VIRGINIA

Stately brick manor house c.1844 | 4 bedrooms, lovely kitchen, multiple porches, beautiful pine floors, 7 fireplaces, original mantels, large windows and detailed millwork throughout | Great natural light in every room | Additional outbuildings include the c. 1810 log cabin used as the pool house & a converted barn now serves as a guest house with movie theatre | 2 ponds, miles of trails, 178 acres | Separate workshop and 5 car garage

RUTLEDGE FARM MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA

Premier Middleburg estate | Main house of stone and frame construction circa 1740 w/addition in 1820. 6 BR, 3 1/2 BA, 5 FP, high ceilings, moldings & detailed woodwork throughout | Equestrian facilities are unmatched | 113 lush acres. 5 barns totaling 35 stalls | 19 paddocks | Derby field | 218 x 80 indoor arena | 250 x 150 all-weather outdoor arena | 80’ lunging arena | Polo field (or 2 grand prix fields) | 4 board, double fencing & automated nelson waterers | Other improvements include 3 BR, 2 1/2 BA guest house | Farm office attached to 3 BR house | Machine shed | Carriage house w/apartment | Stone spring house/office | 3 BR apartment | Pond with gazebo

$7,500,000

50 WEST VINEYARDS MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA

Existing farm winery established in 2015 | 38.47 acres recorded in two parcels | Hilltop setting with magnificent views | 2,500 sq ft wine tasting room, main level consists of tasting room, seating areas, kitchen, restrooms | 2nd story more seating areas & bathroom | Club House of 5,100 sq ft contemporary style, wine tasting bar, seating areas, bathrooms, large deck, terrace & pool | 40 x 60 Butler building, large parking area | Unique opportunity

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Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905 Sandra Bravo GreenBerG 202.308.3813

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

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THE PLAINS, VIRGINIA

MARSHALL, VIRGINIA

Gorgeous 71 acre parcel in a wonderful location between Middleburg and The Plains | Rolling land with stone walls and 2 ponds | Enchanting property | Property is in conservation easement and may not be divided further

235 acres comprised of 6 tax parcels | Potential tax credits | Mostly wooded | Stone cabin circa 1850 | Barn | Large pond | Very private | First time available since the 1950’s

$1,950,000

Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

helen MacMahon 540.454.1930

$1,450,000

$3,900,000 helen MacMahon 540.454.1930

BUST HEAD ROAD THE PLAINS, VIRGINIA

82.69 acres | Mostly wooded, mountain views, bold stream in very protected area | Conservation easement | Can not be subdivided | Prime Orange County Hunt location | Halfway between Middleburg and The Plains

$1,100,000 Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

37272 SNICKERVILLE TURNPIKE PHILOMONT, VIRGINIA

Virginia Farmhouse, c 1880, completely restored in 2016 | Stucco and hardiplank exterior | 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1 fireplace, beautiful wood floors, exposed beams in living room | Primary bedroom has access to large balcony | Rear flagstone terrace, stone retaining wall, multiple outdoor entertainment areas | Front porch with swing and view of the Blue Ridge | Private back yard, fenced, workshop and studio | Over half of an acre

$725,000 Paul MacMahon 703.609.1905

109 THE PLAINS ROAD MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA

Very private office building in Middleburg | Located on The Plains Road directly across from the Sporting Library | Charming office - 3 levels with lower level used for over flow and break room/kitchen | Surprisingly large parking lot behind the building offers what many other buildings are lacking in town | Building has many potential uses with C-3 Zoning

$589,000 helen MacMahon 540.454.1930

Highland Senior in Point-to-Point Winner’s Circle

Photo by Doug Gehlsen Middleburg Photo

At the Blue Ridge point-to-point, Chloe Hannum knows exactly where’s she’s going.

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By Linda Roberts

he sign at the entrance to Adlestrop Hill, the Hannum family farm near Delaplane, proudly announces “Chloe Hannum, Congratulations, Class of 2021.” She recently graduated from Highland School in Warrenton with honor roll recognitions behind her. And, her senior year could be termed a wild ride.

Several achievements other than her academic pursuits have made her bubble over with happiness. A lifelong equestrian, the 18-year-old piloted her Kentuckybred bay horse, Cocodimama, to several wins on the point-to-point race meet schedule and had four victories in all by Memorial Day. “He tried his little heart out,” Chloe said of her star performer.

“He’s the best horse I’ve ever had.”

Her first win this season was at the Piedmont Point-to-Point in a ladies timber race, followed by another win at the Old Dominion races. Then came a third place finish at the Blue Ridge races in an open timber event where she competed against male riders. Chloe shrugs off any difference in riding against “the guys” as no big deal.

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Not content to race only over timber fences, Chloe also piloted her sister Flora’s grey horse, Paddy’s Crown, to victory at both the Piedmont and Warrenton pointto-points.

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She was raised in an equine-oriented family. Her mother, Emily, a native of Great Britain, grew up riding and is an enthusiastic participant in the hunt field.

Her father, Jeb, is executive director of the Virginia Equine Alliance which promotes horse racing in Virginia. He’s also also Jt. Master of Foxhounds for Orange County Hounds.

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“It was just what I did growing up,” she said matter-of-factly.

“I never thought of not riding.”

Chloe credits her parents with her love of riding, and now racing, and her sister who allows her to race Paddy’s Crown. “I am so grateful to my parents and to so many people who have helped me with my riding,” she said. “My parents are the driving force behind it all; I am so fortunate.”

Riding and caring for the family’s six horses and working with horses for several area farms will keep Chloe busy this summer.

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This fall she will enter George Washington University (GWU) where she plans to major in biology. With an eye turned toward eventually becoming a veterinarian, Chloe also plans on enrolling in GWU’s leadership program.

With classes not all that far away in D.C., she’s looking forward to finding time to come home to Delaplane to hunt with her parents and keep Cocodimama in racing shape for the racing season that starts again early next year.

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

117 W. Washington St. Middleburg, VA 20117 (next to the Post Office) 540-687-6590 www.thefunshop.com LIKE US ON FACEBOOK 3

ZES ST T & Sty t lel

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of NOTE

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Personalities, Celebrations and Sporting Pursuits © 2021 Country ZEST & Style, LLC. Published six times a year

MAILING ADDRESS: P.O. Box 798 Middleburg, Virginia 20118 PHONE: 410-570-8447 Editor: Leonard Shapiro, badgerlen@aol. com Wine Editor: Peter Leonard-Morgan Food Editor: Daniela Anderson Art Director Meredith Hancock Hancock Media @mhancockmedia

Contributing Photographers: Crowell Hadden, Sarah Huntington, Doug Gehlsen, Missy Janes Douglas Lees, Karen Monroe and Tiffany Dillon Keen Contributing Writers: David Augenblick, Pat Reilly, Anita Sherman, Carina Elgin, Caroline Fout, Emma Boyce, Jimmy Hatcher, Philip Dudley, Jimmy Wofford, Jodi Nash, John Sherman, John Toler, Kevin Ramundo, Leslie VanSant, Linda Roberts, Louisa Woodville, M.J. McAteer, Melissa Phipps, Mike du Pont, Sean Clancy, Tom Northrup

For advertising inquiries, contact: Leonard Shapiro at badgerlen@aol.com or 410-570-8447

ON THE COVER Having a large group in the studio can be complicated. First, the photographer wants to make sure everyone is posed in a flattering way.

Families are easy; a disparate group can be difficult. Fortunately, the Hannum family was more than willing to follow my lead. Second, everyone in the photo also has to be properly exposed to the studio strobes. For this shoot, it took a little finessing to get the light right and make sure shadows were not cast on the kids standing in the back.

Doug Gehlsen Finally, everyone had to be arranged to fit the layout of the magazine.

The photo editing software I use has the capability to place an overlay template of the cover on the image as it’s being captured, so we have an idea of what the final image and cover layout will look like. / Country Zest and Style

/ @countryzestandstyle

/ @countryzestand1

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for the hummingbird.

Country

Distributed and mailed throughout the Virginia countryside and in Washington and at key Sporting Pursuits and Celebrations

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ZE

BE ON THE LOOKOUT through this Country issue of

He appears in two ads and the first two readers to find him (one each) will receive a gift from THE RED TRUCK Rural Bakery, with locations in Warrenton and Marshall. Send your reply to badgerlen@aol.com.

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FATHERS, SONS AND MORE

he official publication date for this summer issue of Country ZEST was June 11, nine days before Father’s Day (not to mention the first official day of summer). So what better time to celebrate some delightful dads, not to mention a few wonderful wives and magnificent moms.

Our cover subjects, the Hannum family of Delaplane, checks off all the above boxes, not to mention adding their three talented teenage children into the mix.

You can read all about the Hannums in several stories, including a feature on oldest daughter Chloe, so far a four-time winner on the point-to-point circuit at the ripe old age of 18.

We’ve also got some father and son stories going on—specifically the dynamic Warrenton real estate duo of Joe and Tray Allen and, occupying an office just a few doors down on Culpeper Street, attorney and former judge Greg Ashwell and his law partner son, Will.

Over in Belvoir just outside Marshall and hard by the railroad tracks, another father and his two sons have carried on a business that began 100 years ago. It’s morphed into a bustling and mostly hidden scrap metal recycling operation on a property that also has helped several other local businesses survive.

There’s another intriguing father-son partnership at Callaway Classics, leading to a recently-opened business in Marshall focusing on the renovation and sales of classic automobiles.

We’re also featuring a piece on a different sort of relationship—a retired, white cattle farmer befriending and mentoring a young, black Hill School student from a single parent household who was more than 50 years his junior.

They came from far different backgrounds, but also shared a love of golf for more than 20 years until the older man, my late friend Ben Gale, passed away last year. I get goose bumps thinking about what Ben and Chamberlain Hill each did for the other. Hope you will, too.

There are plenty more photos, columns and stories to savor on a wide variety of subjects—Middleburg’s very own baseball team, a passionate horse rescuer, a fencing master, a Dolly Parton-inspired library, peacocks in all their glory, water yoga, chickens and lovely lingerie (G-rated, of course).

It’s summertime, and the reading is easy, the better to add a little more ZEST to the coming months.

Leonard Shapiro Editor Badgerlen@aol.com

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Brokering the Deal at Allen Real Estate

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By Anita L. Sherman llen Real Estate Company, located in historic Old Town Warrenton, has been at the corner of Culpeper and Lee Street for more than 30 years. Its offices house a dynamic father-son team, Joe and Tray Allen.

“My mother was in real estate,” said Joe Allen, who founded the company in 1990 after 16 years of managing large real estate offices in Northern Virginia.

“When I started the business…we started in the briar patch. We were in a recession…in fact, we’ve been through five recessions…There’s little we haven’t seen before (in the real estate market.)

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, the elder Allen has called Fauquier County home most of his life. His love of the area hasn’t diminished and his enthusiasm has only grown throughout the years.

“We have a great quality of life here,” said Allen.

“It’s a wonderful place and it just keeps getting better.”

Tray Allen, the younger broker of the company, agrees. Born and raised in Fauquier County, he represents the third generation of his family to enter real estate.

He joined the company in 1998 after earning a degree in finance from Virginia Tech. Now into his 23rd year working with his father, he shares the same love of the area and particularly the growing vibrancy of the town.

Joe smiled and cast a glance at his son.

“He applied for the job,” the father said with a smile.

“I knew that I always had an opportunity to work here,” added Tray. “It’s a great place to come home to.”

The father of two young sons, Tray is married to the former Emily Ashwell, whose brother Will and father Greg also anchor a father-son partnership in the legal arena. Their offices – Ashwell and Ashwell - are just up the street. The two families are close.

For the last few years, there has been a shortage of properties in Fauquier County but the demand remains high.

Allen Real Estate Company 43 Culpeper Street Warrenton, Virginia 20186 540-347-3838 Joe Allen: 540-229-1770 Photo by Anita L. Sherman

Allen Real Estate Company boasts a combined 70 years of experience between father and son. Find Tray and Joe Allen at 43 Culpeper Street in Warrenton.

Tray Allen: 540-2223838 www.allenrealestate.com

“We didn’t know what to expect with COVID…but 2020 ended very well,” Joe Allen said. “People are coming from the cities in droves.”

While they have garnered a niche in dealing with luxury country properties, the Allens handle properties in all price ranges.

They also believe in giving back to the community and are active supporters of the Fauquier Community Theater, the Warrenton Horse Show and the Fauquier SPCA, among others. During 2018 and 2019, Allen Real Estate donated $1,000 to the SPCA for every transaction closed. Tray serves on the Greater Piedmont Realtors board.

When the two aren’t working, they enjoy traveling and family time.

“Our biggest decision each day is where to eat lunch,” Joe said, adding that the two share this ritual daily. It’s a time to talk business, a time to connect.

“We’re big Tech football fans,” Tray said. “It’s a big tradition for us in the fall.”

Tray Allen also dotes on his two sons.

“I love hearing about what they’ve learned,” said Tray of his two young sons.

“They are little miracles.”

“He’s a little salesman,” Joe said of 3-year-old grandson, Joe IV. Perhaps a fourth generation will be taking the lead.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Passing the Bar Twice for the Ashwells

F

By Anita L. Sherman

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or the 14 years J. Gregory Ashwell served as a Virginia judicial district 20 judge, he garnered a reputation for a keen knowledge of the law and administering it fairly.

In the meantime, his son, William D. Ashwell (Will), was making his own headlines winning precedent-setting cases in Virginia’s Supreme Court in Richmond.

He is recognized among Virginia’s top young lawyers, and together with his father, the two have combined their decades of legal expertise and opened their own law firm, Ashwell and Ashwell.

“I like to think of it as Warrenton’s K Street,” said 35-year-old Will, who enjoys historic district location at 21 Culpeper Street in Warrenton. The two are now comfortably ensconced in the 4,000-square foot office space that provides plenty of room for growth. There is an obvious collegial and professional relationship between this forPhoto by Anita L. Sherman midable father-son legal partnering.

Attorneys Greg and Will Ashwell at “We’ve hit the ground running,” said their Warrenton office.

Will, who earned his law degree from the University of Dayton in 2012.

Greg Ashwell, 64, retired in January, 2021 Ashwell and Ashwell to join his son and couldn’t be happier.

21 Culpeper Street The elder Ashwell brings more than 40 years of legal expertise from his years in Warrenton, Virginia 20186 private practice as a defense lawyer to his (540) 991-9100 job as a prosecutor in the Fauquier County info@ashwell.law Commonwealth’s Attorney Office. www.ashwell.law He was the deputy commonwealth’s attorney when he received his judgeship in 2007. The Virginia General Assembly appointed him to Fauquier’s Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Serving both Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties he served the 20th Judicial District Court.

“We’re looking to hire another attorney soon,” Will said. “It’s a good problem to have.” As a full-service law firm, the Ashwells' combined law experience gives them an unparalleled edge in a competitive market.

“We’ve talked about this for years,” said Greg Ashwell.

“There is so much more to do.”

Will Ashwell said his decision to study law “wasn’t overly influenced by my father. I had thought about it…and writing.”

“It was a pleasant surprise,” said Greg Ashwell. “We’ve always gotten along very well…Will is an old soul.”

Will is a board member of the Fauquier SPCA and currently chairs Experience Old Town Warrenton in addition to being a member of the Fauquier Chamber.

“We’re pretty busy,” said Greg. But, in their free time, the two enjoy playing a round of golf or, for Greg, a walk in the woods. “I’ve hiked every trail in the Shenandoah Park.”

While work consumes the majority of their time, their hearts belong to the children in their lives.

“Most of our off-duty time is kid centered,” continued Greg who is proud of their rumpus room within the office complex where his grandchildren can visit and play.

“As you can see, I’m a full-time lawyer and a full-time Dad,” said Will laughing as he pointed to a leather corner chair in his office complete with dolls. He and his wife, Lucy, have two young daughters, Betsy and Langley, with a third child on the way.

The Ashwells obviously share a personal and a professional bond as father and son. It’s a combination that’s hard to beat.

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Callaway Classics: It’s More Than a Hobby

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By James Jarvis

om Callaway’s first car was one he built himself.

As a teenager, he had trouble learning to read and was failing most of his classes. But his reading skills drastically improved after his father bought him a 189-piece Craftsman Tool Chest, a Sears Penske Automotive Analyzer and a Chilton DIY auto repair manual so he could fix up his grandfather’s old 1965 Chevy Impala collecting dust in their driveway.

“He said if you can get it running, you can have it,” Callaway said.

For the last 40 years, Callaway, 60, has always owned classic cars, some of them now on display at Callaway Classics, the new business he and his son Chris have opened in Marshall in a building that once housed a Ford dealership that first opened in 1915. A 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback is their favorite car.

In the early 2000s, Tom’s collection began growing. He had taken a hit in the stock market, so instead of reinvesting in stocks, the following decade he started putting his money into cars,. He expanded his collection to over 90 vehicles, some dating back to the 1930s.

“I know that car right there is 16 grand this year,” said Tom Callaway, pointing to an imaginary car. “Next year, It will be [worth] 18. Next year, it’ll be 20. So I just started taking my extra money and instead of putting it in stocks, I started putting it in cars.”

Tom Callaway’s real day job revolved around owning a successful ceramic tile business, T.A.C Ceramic Tile Co. As he built his collection, he traveled across the country visiting auctions and buying cars from private dealers. Many of his cars now are housed in a 90,000-square foot climate-controlled warehouse in Manassas.

Tom Callaway said he hates the idea of selling his cars, but simply has too many of them. Last year, father and son bought several structures and three parcels of land, including the old Marshall Ford dealership, which then underwent a $1.55 million renovation.

The hardest part of opening the basiness was getting licensed.

“There’s this little catch-22 where the state of Virginia won’t allow you to buy and

Photo by James Jarvis

Chris and Tom Callaway in their Callaway Classics Marshall showroom. sell more than five cars a year as a private citizen without a dealer’s license,” Tom said.

“But they make it so hard on you to get it.”

Tom and Chris had to take a two-day course on how to become a used car dealer, then needed to pass a dealer operator license test. The state also has strict zoning requirements for where dealers are allowed to sell their vehicles.

Still, Tom Callaway said, the new business is mostly about having fun.

“I get to clean up my collection and drive my cars,” he said. “And [Chris] gets to learn about the cars.”

The dealership officially opened in early June. There are a few cars on the lot priced in the $25,000 range, though the average price runs between $60,000 and $70,000.

The Callaways encourage anyone to stop by and browse. They’re open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Every second Saturday of the month, Callaway Classics hosts “Cars and Coffee” in its main lot from 8-11 a.m.

Other collectors are invited to bring their cars, and it’s all open to the public.

“You never know who they know,” said Chris Callaway. “Even if they don’t want to buy a car, they may know someone who wants to buy a car.”

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Since 1999, the Community Foundation for Loudoun and Northern Fauquier Counties has helped generous donors support a variety of charitable causes in our region.

We salute the leaders who wrapped their vision and commitment—and arms—around this community to create and sustain a permanent charitable resource.

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Recycling Metal and Reviving Smaller Businesses

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By Anita L. Sherman

ocation. Location.

The thriving family business has been in the same place for 100 years and Marshall residents in particular are quite familiar with the group of buildings nestled next to the railroad tracks near Route 691.

The “Belvoir” part of Belvoir Recycling has remained unchanged since 1921 when Elmer Miller purchased it to house his blacksmith and wheelwright shop.

By the 1930s, he went into the auto parts business.

During World War II, having many old cars and unusable household appliances piling up proved to be a great source for high-demand scrap metal.

With directives from the War Department and out of sheer necessity, Miller morphed his business into metal recycling.

Joined by his brother James Miller, they forged a legacy in the community for establishing a successful business while having a lot of fun, anecdotal stories.

Donald Hazel sits in a small office flipping through a huge binder containing past newspaper articles, meticulous accounting records and photographs from the Miller days. He and his two sons, Austin and Luke, currently own Belvoir Recycling.

Some 20 years ago, Donald Hazel was looking for something different to do. When he learned that the longtime Miller property was for sale, he found his calling. In addition to recycling scrap metal, Hazel rents storage units to contractors.

“I thought I’d try running a scrap yard,” said Austin Hazel, a graduate of Hampden Sydney, who manages the company with his father and brother Luke. The younger Hazel wasn’t sure what direction to take af-

ter graduation but has Belvoir Recycling found a hard-working 4292 Belvoir Road and creative career at Marshall, Virginia 20115 the recycling company (540) 253-5006 since 2011. www.scrapva.com “We’ve got a lot of end-of-life vehicles,” said Don Hazel, who described the processes involved in sorting, breaking up and hauling the various metals that come through their gates.

Looking at large mounds of scrap metal, he said, “Two to three hundred tons a month is a good month.”

Local farmers benefit from Belvoir Recycling’s weigh station. “We let them come in for free and weigh their loads,” said Don Hazel, adding that several military families have taken advantage as well.

Circled by woods, the 27-acre facility is in its own world. Driving from Warrenton, there’s an ambiance of pristine farmland, rolling hills and grazing horses. And Belvoir’s business did not slow down in pandemic-ravaged 2020.

While recycling scrap metal is the main focus, there’s also plenty of entrepreneurial reinvention going on.

“We found that a lot of smaller contractors were being pushed out of more costly space in data center locations,” Don Hazel said.

His answer was to offer them rental space. A small community of businesses is now housed within the property, including a tree service company, HVAC services, a trucking firm, among others.

“Many go hand-in-hand with what we are doing,” said Hazel, “it’s a win-win.”

Their recycling business may be ‘end-of-life’ when it comes to discarded metals, but their property serves as new life, a place where many businesses can

Austin Hazel is most proud of their magnetic crane making the tough job of lifting heavy metals that much easier. prosper, thrive and grow.

“They’re all hard working and they come from a variety of backgrounds,” Don Hazel said. “That doesn’t make any difference…they’re all businessmen and all working to be successful.”

Turning metal into money is just part of the plan.

Their forward-thinking, inclusive and expanding vision of the future may very well ensure another 100 years.

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

9

This Chutney Is All in The Family

I

By David Augenblick

n a famous exchange from the 1967 film “The Graduate,” Dustin Hoffman’s character was told by a family friend, “Plastics….There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?”

Something else to think about: chutney, what Merriam Webster defines as “a thick sauce of Indian origin that that contains fruits, vinegar, sugar and spices and is used as a condiment.”

At Turner Foods based in Flint Hill, they are constantly thinking, and producing, their own scrumptious chutney. In a recent interview, company president Oliver Turner said the inspiration for the company came from his mother, Clare.

“Around 2000, (she) wanted to become a Head Start teacher,” he said. “She learned that this would require a college degree so she set about getting one. Studying anthropology at George Mason, she took a class on Food Ways and learned that the American South had a culture of chutney making. She wondered why most grocery stores imported English and Indian chutneys, and then one thing led to another.”

The company, founded in 2004, is now located in a renovated section of an old dress manufacturing textile plant in Flint Hill.

“We spent years producing our chutneys at regional contract packagers “co-packers” but always wanted to grow the business to the point that it justified having

Spicy Plum Chutney goes well with just about anything. our own space,” Turner said. “We looked at various spots in Rappahannock County, and, thanks to the support from family and community investors, took the leap.”

Clare’s late husband, Nevill, loved the challenge and fun of building out a cannery and delighted in its three 150-gallon steam-jacketed kettles, automatic filler and labeling machine. Before he passed away in 2019, he introduced his daughter-in-law, Lindsey, to the business and taught his grand-daughter, Perry, how to wear a hair net. Turner Foods now produces six flavors

of chutney under its Virginia Chutney Co. brand and has nine other employees at the Flint Hill factory.

“We also used to produce rhubarb and green tomato chutneys which were good but not that popular,” Oliver Turner said. “It might sound absurd, or overly technical, but we try to be a ‘deli complement solutions provider,’ which means that we make things that pair well with cheese and charcuterie.

“To that end, we also produce fig spread, pepper jelly, honey and mustards under The Preservation Society brand and our company name is now Turner Foods. Pepper jelly and fig spread are by far our biggest sellers thanks to national distributors and food service distributors like SYSCO.” They’ve been busy in 2021, already cooking up two tons of peaches, two tons of plums, three tons of dried figs, over five tons of mangoes and a small hill of cane sugar.

Locally, the company’s products can be found in a number of locations, including Delaplane Cellars and the Town Duck in Warrenton, The Fun Shop and Red Fox Inn in Middleburg, and the Locke Store in Millwood. They’re also available in the deli/cheese departments of Harris Teeter, Martin's, Giant, Whole Foods and Kroger.

For more information, go to: www.virginiachutney.com and www.preservationpeople.com/ www.turnerfoods.us.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

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The Hannum Bunch: Happily Settled in Virginia

Music School

“We both love Steeplechase racing.

The Middleburg area has excellent facilities and terrain for training racehorses and plenty of opportunities to race locally.”

J

The Community of the Piedmont

By Vicky Moon

ohn B. “Jeb” Hannum III grew up around horses in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He speaks horse.

He’s executive director of the Virginia Equine Alliance (VEA). Based in Warrenton, it’s a non-profit representing the entire racing and breeding industry in the state—flat, harness, steeplechase and the breeders.

“The VEA was established in 2014 to revitalize the industry and has been instrumental in supporting all aspects of racing and breeding, especially through the challenges from the pandemic,” Jeb said.

Closer to home in Fauquier County, he also serves as a Jt. Master of Foxhounds with Orange County Hounds (OCH), following a family tradition. His greatgrandmother and great-grandfather were both Masters at OCH in the 1920s.

He graduated from the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and went on to Hobart College in upstate New York, with a B.A. in European history. He earned a Masters in Public Administration at the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeb and his wife Emily, who grew up fox hunting in England, met at the 1991 Pennsylvania Hunt Cup races. They were married in Yorkshire, England in 1995, then lived in London for seven years before returning to the U.S. in 2005.

“It was a quality of life decision and we were at the point where our youngest, Chloe, was about to start school,” Emily said of their return to the U.S. The Hannums moved to the Middleburg area in 2014 and within a year Jeb was named as the first executive director of the VEA. He also serves on the Board of Trustees at Highland School in Warrenton, where their three children, Chloe, 18, Jack, 16, and Flora, 14, are students.

Their daughters are following in the family’s equine tradition. Chloe has been riding on the point-to-point circuit and through Memorial Day, she totaled four wins riding over timber, hurdles and on the flat. In the fall, she’ll be a freshman at George Washington University and wants to become a veterinarian.

Flora also is an enthusiastic rider and said, “I love jumping, I love going fast with the wind in my face. Because they both love horses, it also helps me connect with my parents.”

Jack rode for a while and occasionally fox-hunted, but in recent years he’s become an avid skateboarder and has attended the prestigious Woodward Skate Camp.

“We encouraged the kids in whatever they wanted to do and supported them with their riding, which is a lot of work,” Jeb said. “The girls really took to it. The fact that Emily and I love it, we naturally wanted them to try it.”

Emily remains an enthusiastic fox hunter and also is a highly-successful businesswoman. She earned an MBA from Henley in England and is now Vice President and Strategic Relationship Manager for Loomis, Sayles & Company, a Boston-based firm with $345 billion in assets under management.

Emily has an office in Middleburg but frequently travels to the Boston headquarters. Still, she’s managed career, family and her own lifelong equine passion quite brilliantly, just like her horse-talking husband, Jeb.

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Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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At River Farm in Leesburg there is a 24-stall barn and a covered connection to the indoor arena.

The façade of the eight-stall barn at Meadow Creek Farm includes oak framing and stone.

Meadow Creek Farm in Floyd, Virginia.

The 100 X 200 foot indoor arena at Meadow Creek has an observation lounge.

The observation lounge at River Farm overlooks the indoor arena.

Great Big Beautiful Barns A

merican Equestrian Design: Barns, Farms, and Stables by Blackburn Architects is a cross-country photo gem for equestrians to read about where to keep their equines.

Blackburn Architects, P.C. was established in 1983 to provide full-service architectural design and planning services specializing in barns. Owner John Blackburn has become well known for the focus on light and ventilation so all occupants (human and equine) can thrive. The firm’s design team considers clients’ needs and site concerns with an emphasis that now incorporates a sustainable future. Add to this a momentum for further environmental safeguards.

Many in the Middleburg area are already familiar with the firm’s work at Heronwood in Upperville and Rutledge Farm in Middleburg. Here we offer a peek at two special places. River Farm, in Leesburg along the shore of the Potomac River, includes large indoor and outdoor riding space, a barn with stalls for grooming and washing and a set of sliding partitions that can be closed in case of fire.

In Floyd, Virginia at Meadow Creek Farm, the owners commissioned an eight-stall stable for their Rocky Mountain horses. The design team took creative vision from the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway with a sophisticated rustic use of oak framing and stone. The 90-acre facility also includes an arena and paddocks.

Published by The Images Publishing Group, also on Amazon and at blackburnarch.com.

Whenever possible, Country ZEST encourages our readers to buy local. Second Chapter Books in Middleburg can fulfill almost any request.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

There is interlocking rubber flooring throughout the barn area at River Farm.

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Kelsey Payne an 18-year-old violinist from King George, Va., and a student at Mary Washington College, recently was awarded a $3,000 scholarship as the winner of the Piedmont Symphony Orchestra’s Young Artists’ Competition. The two other finalists were Noelle Fiegl, a violinist from Fredericksburg, and Naomi Wall, a flutist from Haymarket. They were each awarded $1,000 scholarships.

Photo courtesy

During Historic Garden Week in Virginia, domestic diva Martha Stewart stopped to take a peek at Ashleigh, the home and gardens of Melanie and Matt Blunt near Delaplane.

Photo by Vicky Moon Photo by Vicky Moon

Nathan Stalvey, Director of the Clarke County Historical Association, at the Art of the Mill event in Millwood

Sloane Coles, extraordinary equestrian, took time off from Grand Prix jumping to visit with a favorite bouncing friend Finn, the son of Julia and Conor O’Regan.

Photo by Ellen Richmond-Hearty

At John Page Turner Community House for a Scholarship Ceremony in The Plains. Students Joshua Umetsu, Johnathan Pieja, Tom Rice (The Plains Community League President), Mikhaela Ulewicz, and Aubrey Fisher, not pictured is Katherine Lattig.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

Gerry Chittick has retired from her role as owner of the Middleburg Floral Gallery. All the items in her shop have been donated to the Middleburgmarketplace.com.

Take Him Out to the Ball Game

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By Leonard Shapiro

or Ted Eldredge, it’s always been about his love of the game. That would be baseball, and in particular the team he founded and now nurtures, manages and, even at age 65, still occasionally plays for—the Middleburg Red Sox. Maybe you’ve seen him riding a tractor around the regulation Hill School diamond he essentially laid out and now lovingly maintains, with an assist from Hill’s grounds supervisor Bob Dornin. Three times a week, Eldredge drags and smooths out the 20 tons of infield dirt he personally purchased. Last year he built a new pitcher’s mound on a field the school generously agreed to include on its 140-acre campus.

Eldredge, a naive of The Plains. played high school baseball, ran track at the University of Richmond and went back to participating in adult baseball in his mid-30s, joining the Warrenton Orioles 30 years ago.

Eldredge and his friend and teammate Marcus Bulmer had such a good time they spun off from Warrenton and started the Loudoun Yankees, playing home games at Loudoun County High and Mickie Walker Field just outside Middleburg.

Still, the name Yankees never really sat well with Eldredge, who grew up an L.A. Dodger and Boston Red Sox fan. And so, they became the Middleburg Red Sox and began competing in an over-age-28 league under the umbrella of the D.C. Men’s Senior Baseball League.

That organization now has teams in divisions of over 18, over 30, 40, 50 and 60 years old. The Red Sox are in the 18-and-over 12-team division, with15

regular season games and several more if they advance to the postseason. Players pay $250 for the season, which covers the cost of uniforms, baseballs and umpires.

Most of his players range in age from 21 to 31, with experience in high school or college baseball.

Pitchers can throw at 80 mph velocity, not quite Max Scherzer speed but still plenty challenging.

Aside from Eldredge, the second oldest is a recently recruited 41-year-old from Ashburn. All the players live in Northern Virginia.

Eldredge’s day job is in real estate, and he described his baseball role as “general manager, coach, bill collector and grounds crew.” On game days, he makes out the lineup, does substitutions and even warms up his pitchers. He’s also a reserve right fielder and first baseman and usually plays when the team is a bit shorthanded.

“I can still run,” he said. “I like to bunt and I still have my legs.”

He spends a lot of time recruiting players, seemingly a never-ending task because most don’t last more than five years. They get married, have kids, move away, or get hurt. Women are also welcome to sign up and play.

Years ago, during a kindergarten orientation session at Hill School, a fellow parent told Eldredge he’d pitched in the summer Cape Cod League. He played for Middleburg one season, then snapped a humerus bone in his arm while pitching and never played again.

Eldredge once was chatting with the owner of the old BP gas station in Middleburg and asked him if

Photo by Vicky Moon

Ted Eldredge lovingly maintains the baseball field at The Hill School. he knew of any young players. “Ask the guy standing behind you,” Eldredge was told.

“The Guy” was Ivan Montalvo, a smooth shortstop who once played professionally in the Mexican League.

He was living with his girlfriend in Middleburg and “was hitting baseballs all over the park.”

Montalvo played several years before breaking up with the girl and moving away. Eldredge has had doctors, lawyers, accountants, mailmen and other government workers on his roster, and his team has won several league championships, the last in 2015.

The winning is always wonderful, but playing the game Eldredge has loved all his life is the true reward.

“If I didn’t have it, I wouldn’t be on this earth,” he said. “It keeps me busy. It keeps me going. I’ll do it until they carry me out.”

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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At Le Boudoir Boutique, The Perfect Fit

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By Carina Elgin

hile the co-owners of Middleburg’s Le Boudoir boutique, Sara Crutcher and Kayse Small, once lived in different parts of the country, both always had a dream of starting a “sophisticated and classy” lingerie shop.

Fate, in the unlikely form of a children’s book, brought them together, resulting in Le Boudoir, Northern Virginia’s destination for expert bra fitting and top-quality selection.

Crutcher found her passion for lingerie while working at Victoria’s Secret in high school and in college. Originally from Ohio, she graduated from Hampton College in Virginia with a degree in advertising, which took her to jobs in various cities in the U.S. She also worked in several high-end lingerie boutiques, and became an expert bra fitter, loving the fashion and feel of luxury undergarments.

She was living in Detroit when a chance encounter between her mother and Small, the manager of the gift shop at Salamander Resort, led Crutcher to Middleburg for the first time to do a signing of her children’s book, “Heart Picked: Elizabeth’s Adoption Tale” (available on Amazon and other retail outlets).

Originally from Louisiana and a U.S. Air Force veteran, Small was on assignment in Paris, France, when she truly began to appreciate lingerie. She loved how French women accepted and loved their bodies. She visited the city’s small shops, and the trade shows, to research the industry.

Charles Carroll IV, MD

Photo by Carina Elgin

Sara Crutcher, left, and Kayse Small, co-owners of Le Boudoir in Middleburg.

She knew she wanted to open her own shop, and upon returning to the States, fell in love with Middleburg. She felt the town wasn’t quite ready for her shop at that point, and worked at Salamander, running the gift shop for more than four years.

While chatting during Crutcher’s book signing visit, they discovered their shared love for lingerie, and both knew instantly that they would open that shop together. They stayed in touch, visited trade shows together, sharing ideas. It wasn’t long before Small texted that she had found retail space on

Le Boudoir is located at 5 South Madison Street in Middleburg, VA. The website is www.leboudoirfits.com.

Geraldine Carroll

Charles Carroll IV, MD Orthopedic Surgery, Hand, Upper Extremity Surgery and Rehabilitation 109 W, Marshall Street, Middleburg, VA 20117 540-326-8182 | Email: orthomd@ccarrollmd.com

ccarrollmd.com 16

Pendleton Street in Middleburg. Less than a month later, Crutcher packed up, left Detroit behind and drove through a blizzard to move to Middleburg.

Thanks to repeat customers and increased online sales, Le Boudoir made it through the pandemic and is ready to make more women feel good about themselves with well-fitting and pretty lingerie.

Their move to 5 South Madison Street has helped the shop blossom, Crutcher explained. They get more foot traffic, as part of Middleburg’s “destination town” appeal. “As well as fitting Middleburg women, people come from near and far on day trips here,” Crutcher said.

The shop’s offerings are carefully chosen to be sure they are of excellent quality and fashionable, for all ages and body shapes. Most items are European-made, and brassieres sell in the price range of $70-$120. Among the beautiful racks of different styles and colors, they carry foundation pieces, everyday underwear and soft, sophisticated sleepwear, as well as fancier varieties.

They even have sports bras, stressing that making sure active women who ride, garden, etc., are properly supported is part of what they do, not just preparing women for those “special nights.” For men, they carry Tommy John products.

Le Boudoir has several fitting rooms, and the owners welcome appointments as well as walk-ins.

Sara Crutcher and Kayse Small will ensure their customers leave “happy, fitted and confident.”

DEL WILSON, P.T., O.C.S.* MARY WILSON, P.T., O.C.S.* * Board Certified Orthopedic Clinical Specialist

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MIDDLEBURG, VA 20118

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MARY WILSON, P.T., O.C.S.* Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021 540-687-6565

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Carry Me BACK

Miss Charlotte and the Beagles

PSO’s Triumphant Return to the Live Concert Stage…

PSO Spotlight With Special Guest Thomas Pandolfi, piano

SUNDAY, JUNE 27 - 3:00 PM

Kathleen Harriman Mortimer was a member of the riding team while at Foxcroft.

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GENERAL ADMISSION TICKETS: $35 LIMITED SEATING AVAILABLE!

Image Foxcroft School

Miss Charlotte Noland, head of the Foxcroft School.

By Jimmy Hatcher

hen I was running the stable for former New York Governor W. Averell Harriman and his wife, Pamela, at their Willow Oaks farm just outside Middleburg, friends and family members often came to ride. None of the guests were more welcome than the governor‘s daughter, Kathleen Harriman Mortimer.

A Foxcroft graduate, she loved to take her horse over to her old school just down the road, all the while fondly remembering the trails there when she had been “Master of the Beagles” in her student days.

Kathleen always laughed when she told the story about the day her pack of beagles had gone off the Foxcroft property on a run and she had gone after them.

In those days, leaving the campus without permission was a serious offense, possibly leading to expulsion. One of her fellow hunters had actually squealed on her and that afternoon she was called up to appear before Charlotte Noland, or “Miss Charlotte,” as she was known, the long-time founder and Foxcroft Head of School.

Somewhat mortified and fearing the worst beforehand, Kathleen met with Miss Charlotte, but was obviously relieved when she was told “if you had not gone after your hounds, you would have been shipped (expelled).”

STILL - Danzas de Panama COPLAND - Appalachian Spring Suite MOZART - Piano Concerto No. 12 After a year of virtual performances the PSO makes its return to the concert stage at our home away from home—Buchanan Hall in Upperville. We welcome virtuoso pianist THOMAS PANDOLFI back to the PSO stage with the orchestra. Come celebrate the healing power of music with the PSO!

FOR THE JUNE 27 CONCERT TICKETS & INFORMATION ON OUR UPCOMING 25th ANNIVERSARY SEASON: www.piedmontsymphony.org The PSO is Generously Funded in Part By:

After she told me that story, I asked Kathleen if she had ever seen Miss Charlotte‘s grave. She had not, so we rode into the great field behind the school’s Alumni House and found the fenced-in cemetery. We got off our horses and walked into the handsomely planted space.

After a quiet time, I turned to see that this “woman of the world“ was in tears. I asked her if she was all right.

She replied “you don’t understand Jimmy. Our mothers were busy being wives to important men. We had nannies, governesses etc. But you see, Miss Charlotte was always there for us.“

The Margaret Spilman Bowden Foundation Nicolaas and Patricia Kortlandt Fund The Wise Foundation Luminescence Foundation

The Phillip A. Hughes Foundation

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

The Crossfields Group

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

THE SOUND OF MUSIC Stonehilltheatricalfoundation.org and postclassical.com

PHOTOS BY THOMAS WOLFF

F

lint Hill, Virginia is deep in the heart of Rappahannock County. The rippling ribbon roads twist and turn past farms and homes a bit more than 15 miles outside of Marshall on Crest Hill Road/Rt. 647.

Don’t blink or you might miss the petite clue on the right at 40 Springwish Lane.

David Taylor on bass trombone.

In the heart of the amphitheater.

Composer Daniel Schnyder on saxophone (soprano sax) with Ali Cook behind on double bass.

Angel Gil-Ordóñez, co-founder, conductor and musical director.

Flint Hill is alive with the sound of music.

Put your money to work for you—and for your community.

And voilà, you’ve now arrived at a magical musical place known as the Stone Hill Theatrical Foundation. This is where owner John B. Henry spent seven-plus years creating a breathtaking stone amphitheater that rivals any such place, anywhere.

Just as folks could start to go out and about, maybe even minus the masks, the hillside at Stone Hill was sprinkled with devoted music aficionados eager to hear Stravinsky’s 1918 “L’Histoire du Soldat” presented by The PostClassical Ensemble led by conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez. The sound of music reverberated magically for what the group defines as programming that aims to tell stories—exploring the role of music in its cultural and historical context. Philip Kennicott was among those stretched out on the hillside.

The Washington Post Pulitzer Prize winner has noted this is “one of the country’s most innovative music groups.”

Your dollars could be doing so much more.

Northern Piedmont Community Foundation multiplies the impact of your giving by putting your money to work with smart investments. When you set up a fund with NPCF, every dollar is transformed into positive change in your community and financial benefits for you and your family.

No matter who you are, how much philanthropic experience you have, or the amount you want to give, NPCF can help.

Planned Giving Make gifts on your own timetable, either outright or through a deferred estate gift. NPCF will provide all required tax documentation, as well as providing you with an annual report.

Fund Management NPCF administers a wide variety of funds, including donor advised funds and scholarships. We’ll work closely with you to decide the type of fund that works best for you.

Contact us today and find out why NPCF has been a trusted partner in local giving for over 20 years.

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Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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Country MATTERS

Open Space vs.

Solar Power

By Kevin Ramundo

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ne recent morning over coffee, I mentioned to my wife that I was going to be writing about solar power. She had a questioning look on her face, Photo by Hugh Kenny, Piedmont Environmental Council.

Are sprawling solar farms a concern? wondering about the connection between solar power and this column’s usual focus on protecting open space.

With two seemingly environmentally friendly topics, surely advocates for one would automatically favor the other. But that’s not the case because the solar power facilities now being built can consume huge amounts of open space.

It’s become a big issue as the nation and the Commonwealth seek more energy from renewable sources. We all know that traditional ways of generating electricity can take a toll on the environment, especially from the standpoint of green-house gasses and global warming.

Utility-scale solar power is a rapidly growing business driven by green energy legislation and technology advances that have lowered the costs of solar panels.

The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), passed in early 2020, declared that 16,100 megawatts (MW) of green energy production, mostly solar, was in the public interest. This would be equivalent to the power generation of approximately 25 coal-fired facilities.

That sounds promising until you consider that hundreds of solar facilities are projected to be built in Virginia on tens of thousands of acres of forests and farmland to meet VCEA’s solar power expectations. Just to our south, Spotsylvania County is building the largest solar generation facility on the East Coast. It also will destroy over 3,500 acres of forests to generate 500 MWs of power.

Fauquier and Loudoun counties are working to determine what to allow since the VCEA leaves it to local jurisdictions to determine where utility-scale facilities should be built. The pressure is really on with solar power developers canvassing farm owners across both counties with generic offers to lease land.

Applications for these facilities are rising and many more are expected.

In late 2020, Fauquier passed a zoning ordinance involving a two-step process.

If a proposed facility is deemed consistent with the county’s comprehensive plan, then a special permit application can be made.

Recently, a relatively small five-MW facility on 40 acres of active farmland proposed for southern Fauquier was rejected because it did not comply with the county’s comprehensive plans which strives to preserve prime agricultural soils.

Loudoun is still deciding on how to address utility-scale solar, but county supervisors recognize the need to do so. The Loudoun County Preservation and Conservation Coalition has strongly endorsed a policy that focuses on location criteria and has recommended that the county adopt interim guidance.

The conservation community is not against utility-scale solar power, but it does not want valuable agricultural and forested land to be lost or viewsheds and wildlife habitats to be ignored.

The Piedmont Environmental Council prefers that these facilities be sited on previously mined land, landfills, brown fields and other former industrial or commercial sites.

Not surprising, those interested in developing utility-scale solar power want to locate these facilities where it’s easiest and most economical, just as housing developers prefer to build homes on large tracts of open, flat land.

It’s critical to encourage local leaders to find the right balance as they develop or implement solar facility zoning ordinances. Open space protection and these facilities can co-exist with thoughtful policies that respect both priorities.

Kevin Ramundo is a former communications executive who is president of Citizens for Fauquier County and serves on the Land Trust of Virginia board.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Answering climate change through a revolution in reforestation.

As pioneers in the growth of forest creation, GreenTrees is working with Virginia landowners to plant forests that clean the air and remove carbon from the atmosphere.

In the spirit of the coming forest revolution, we are organizing the right principles to honor and protect a more liberating future for all.

Learn more about our process at Virginia.Green-Trees.com or call us at 540.253.2513.

Because when we plant trees, we plant hope.

Virginia.Green-Trees.com | 540.253.2513 | #PlantTreesPlantHope

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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It’s Stage Front and Center at Wakefield

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By Natalie Zickel Wakefield School

he lower gym at Wakefield School in The Plains, once home to a basketball court and bleachers, now includes a new cinderblock wall and the framework for a stage. Piles of gravel are still scattered throughout the building and endless tape markings outline the future placement for new walls, doors, and stairs. But the current desolate look won’t last for long.

The transformation of the old gym into the George L. Ohrstrom Jr. Theater & Auditorium has reinvigorated a sense of exhilaration in the school community. Named after its key donor, a gleaming new facility is scheduled to open this fall, and has been on the school’s wish-list since the creation of Wakefield’s master plan in 2006.

“We have always had this nice, robust theater program.” said Ann-Charlotte Robinson, Wakefield’s Director of Development and Community Relations who has been involved in the project since the beginning. “I was a theater kid myself in high school.

I learned how to build things, I learned how to hang lights. So it’s not only for theater purposes, but just learning how to be practical.”

With three productions a year and an expanding number of students willing to participate, theater remains one of Wakefield’s most prized programs.

There’s also an ever increasing number of students who want to work backstage, doing lighting, sound and building sets. The new theater will not only open opportunities for future actors, but also will provide

Photo by Wakefield student Katherine Wyer

The old gym at Wakefield is being transformed into a new theater, scheduled to open this fall. life skills to students working on the technical aspects of productions.

David Grimes, head of the Arts Department, views the new building as a “vital educational space for teaching our students about all of the creative technical talents that are required for making any production come to life. It will provide not only a theater but a multi-use space for so many of the events at Wakefield School.”

Retractable seating will give the feel of an authentic theater while keeping the space versatile for hosting guest speakers, community events, and beloved Wakefield traditions like the Medieval Fair, the Egyptian Banquet, and the Junior Thesis Forum.

Ashley Harper, Wakefield’s head of school, said she envisions the facility as the “hub of the school,” not only for holding events but also as “a creative space for our students to showcase themselves as curators and creators of content, whether that be as playwrights, stage managers, technical theater gurus, student speakers, or actors. The creative possibilities in the

arts and academics are endless. It’s an important space for our students and our community, and I am truly excited to see what the future may hold.”

None of this would have been possible without the initial donation made by the G. L. Ohrstrom Jr. Foundation in honor of the late George Ohrstrom Jr. Molly Ohrstrom, a Wakefield alum, wanted that first donation to inspire the community and it led to a series of generous gifts from other donors.

“You get as many people involved as you can on any level...It makes everyone feel like they are a part of it.” said Robinson, an active force in raising the funds.

Piers Carey, a parent at Wakefield and chair of the Development Committee, was determined to see a theater come to the school.

“He started pulling all these people together,” Robinson said, “and what he came up with was this wonderful amalgam of all these experts, people who know us, and love us, and are a part of us, to create this design.”

They included Michael Jones, with years of experience in technical theater, alumni parent Kevin Cole, with expertise in electrical work, and Wakefield parents Tom Kennedy and Mark Wyatt, with lighting and outfitting skills.

Clearly, the George L. Ohrstrom Jr. Theater is a community effort that is sure to elicit inspiration, joy and countless bows from one and all when it opens this fall.

Natalie Zickel is a rising senior at Wakefield School in the Plains.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

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Vineyard VIEW

It’s the Time for a Good Glass of Wine

Photo webstaurantstore.com

Whether sweet or dry, white or red, robust or light, the specific glass offers the potential for full flavor.

I

By Peter Leonard-Morgan

t’s no accident that wine glasses are shaped and look the way they do.

The earliest wine glasses were thought to have been created in Venice, Italy in the 15th century, although wine vessels of all types had been in use for many centuries prior to that.

Almost two dozen styles of wine glass are in use regularly today, and here’s why.

The size and diameter of the bowl, the part of the glass into which the wine is poured, plays a crucial part in how a wine reacts and therefore tastes and smells once poured. Red wines require larger glasses so that more surface area comes into contact with the air, and therefore oxidizes, releasing aromas from the tannins in the wine. A nicely shaped, large glass also allows the oenophile to “swirl” the wine, further “volatizing” the alcohol at the surface.

Drilling down into the detail even further, a bold Bordeaux red benefits from a taller, narrower glass than, say, a Burgundy as its shape ideally delivers the sip to the back of the tongue, whereas the wider Burgundy glass is excellent for swirling the wine prior to tasting.

Conversely, white wine glasses need to be smaller so that its clean flavors are preserved, and oxidation is slowed. In a similar way to the reds, different whites benefit from smaller or larger bowls. An oak barrel Chardonnay, for example, does better with a larger glass to promote its oxidation process, and therefore highlights its flavors and aromas. A lighter white wine such as a Sauvignon Blanc or Viognier benefits from the narrower bowl to retain its crispness.

And then there’s Champagne.

For so long, Champagne “coupes” were the epitome of style. However, these tended to accelerate the dissipation of the all important carbon dioxide bubbles synonymous with the greatest celebratory drink on the planet. As a result, both the “flute” and the “tulip” gained increasing popularity, glasses that gave the bubbles far more staying power. The good news is that coupes are making a comeback in stylish establishments everywhere. Having inherited a set of midcentury “coupes,” they’re certainly making a comeback in our home.

The stem deserves some discussion because it also plays an important role when it comes to enhancing the enjoyment of wine.

Holding a glass of wine by its stem as opposed to around the bowl, particularly with a cold white, ensures that heat is not transferred from hand to wine. Today, a number of wine glass manufacturers add strengthening constituents such as titanium to the glass-making process, producing a thing of beauty but with considerably added strength. Stemless glasses have become popular, and do have their practical benefits, primarily in the breakage reduction department, because they are less susceptible to being knocked over, particularly in hectic environments.

In reality, having half a dozen of each variant in the kitchen cupboard is impractical. Having sufficient wider bowl/rim glasses for reds and narrower ones for whites, plus your preferred Champagne/sparkling wine glasses, whether it be tulip, flute or coupe, will work well for most occasions.

Appropriately—Cheers!

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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A FAN DANCE:

Peacocks On Parade at Oak Spring

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PHOTOS BY DILLONKEENPHOTOGRAPHY.COM and JILL VOGEL

y now, we know that neighbor, friend, mother, and Virginia State Senator Jill Vogel wears many hats. What most might not know (until now) is that in the past year, she has developed a fondness for these ancient, flamboyant and intriguing birds. Collectively known as a bevy, the females are peafowl, the males are the exhibitionists. After doing some research, Jill had a friend, Kate Armfield, gift her three and she found a breeder in southern Virginia for the rest. She drove hours to bring them back to their family farm, Oak Spring, in Upperville. As the bevy expanded, a barn was renovated and the ritual of feeding and getting to know them has developed nicely. Recently, after school one day, the Vogel’s son, Tas, and daughter, Olivia, joined their mother for feeding time, while father, Alex, observed. Never known to display their fabulous plumage on command, the peacocks will cooperate when all is quiet. And voilà…we have a fan dance.

Olivia lying down with many peacocks in the background.

Cobalt, sapphire or caerulean, the look is majestic.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Taz, Jill and Olivia spend some after-school quiet time feeding their fine feathered friends.

Photo by Jill Vogel

The Fan Dance

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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Virtual Auctions Offer the Perfect Hash Tag

By Linda Roberts

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he wording on the back of Brian Hash’s t-shirt reads: “Got Auction Fever? We have the Cure.”

Hash has been providing the “cure” since he graduated from auctioneering school in Billings, Montana, in 1993. And, as an auctioneer, he’s sold everything from cattle to crystal goblets and anything imaginable in between.

Hash will tell you the last 28 years have been good for his business, enabling him to have a convenient location on three acres on the main street at Berryville’s east end. The property features office space, restrooms and a 9,000-square-foot main building that houses the myriad of merchandise sellers consign for weekly auctions. Tractors, cars, lawn equipment, large tools and much more are lined up just behind the building.

What’s missing is the singsong auctioneer’s cry as items come up for bid and are declared sold to the highest bidder.

Six years ago, Hash took his business totally online, with buyers registering and bidding from the convenience of their home computer or phone. “We were still doing some selling at our main building, but in 2015 we went cold turkey to online, closed for two weeks to set up (computer systems) and haven’t looked back,” said Hash, adding that the internet has made his business simpler and benefits both the seller and the buyer.

“We can move much more merchandise and involve many more buyers and sellers now,” he said. “It's all about convenience.”

Prospective buyers still have browsing time, and social time to greet friends while previewing merchandise each Monday before the online auction bidding begins at 5:04 that evening. The winning bidders pick up their purchases on Tuesdays. The remainder of the week is filled with new goods arriving for cataloging, tagging and arranging in orderly rows in the auction building and outside for the following week’s auction.

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Hash estimates 85 to 90 percent of his buyers don’t preview what they purchase in person, preferring to utilize the online photographs taken when cataloging each sale. Hash and his staff of 10, which includes his wife, Dawn, daughter, Christina, and brother, Dennis, take care of the financial aspects of the business and catalog some 1,800 lots per week for the Monday auctions.

A graduate of Clarke County High School, Hash said he’s had a number of jobs before becoming an auctioneer. “I’ve driven trucks, hauled cattle, worked at the Berryville Farm Supply and the livestock auction before making the decision to

5/13/21 12:03 PM | Summer2021 Go Green Middleburg

Photos by Linda Roberts

Brian Hash has provided an outlet for buyers and sellers since he graduated from auctioneering school in 1993.

A small vintage trunk sports a new lining and is ready for the next owner. drop everything and attend auctioneering school.

“I was married with a baby on the way and I just decided to go for it,” Hash said, adding that there were “some sleepless nights along the way.”

Hash said there is a demand now for both selling and buying and he sees his business growing to accommodate the market.

“I’m a small entrepreneur. I’ve always had the desire to be bigger but I’m not interested in chasing that almighty dollar,” he added. “A good level of success is better than always reaching for the stars.”

Hash knows his market and is well-known in the community with a large following who trust his salesmanship. His customers are repeat buyers and sellers who have been following Hash Auctions for years.

If you have the time to stop by and chat with Hash, he’d welcome the opportunity. And if you can catch him between conversations with his auction regulars, ask him to tell you the story of the gold coin they once found in a sugar jar while packing estate items for an auction. Yes, that’s the valuable coin that sold for $28,000 and was shipped to a buyer in California.

It’s true. There are still treasures to be found and auctions sometimes yield unexpected surprises. Just ask Brian Hash.

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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hasing another dream—to sing in theater—Monica Fernandi woke up to a practice that would change her dreams. Her teacher in New York City, Broadway legend Betty Buckley, asked students to begin each voice session with a half hour of seated meditation. Fernandi found the meditation as compelling as the singing.

Twenty years later, the vibrant mother of three is a popular yoga teacher and life coach in the Virginia Piedmont area. A little touch of Broadway enlivens her teaching, but her passion about self-direction leads her students to find their own paths.

“Strength begins with a decision to want to be stronger in many areas of your life,” she explained. “The beauty of yoga is that it teaches us to be flexible in body, but also in mind. It’s a yoking of the body and the mind.”

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By Pat Reilly

When her husband’s work brought the family to Virginia in 2008, Fernandi became certified to teach yoga, the most popular of her several certifications.

She adopted the “have-equipment-will-travel” model, finding clients in four Northern Virginia counties.

From Mommy and Me to Flow Yoga at the WARF (Warrenton Aquatic Recreation Facility), chair yoga for octogenarians and personal classes in clients’ homes, wineries, gardens and pools, she was building the business that would become Monicafernandi.com with the slogan “Grow Strength Within.”

Meanwhile, her marriage ended.

Her flexibility was put to the test in March, 2020 when many of the sites where she taught suddenly shut down because of Covid-19. She had to take some classes online and soon was teaching clients in other parts of the country. Some families found group yoga sessions a way to bring generations and far-away family members together in the Zoom room during the pandemic. She thrived.

One of her oldest classes, yoga at the Salamander Resort in Middleburg, was something she had pitched in a hard hat when the popular destination was being built. She also teaches a Water Yoga class.

As she developed a form of exercise that draws on many eastern practices, she imagined writing a book that would explain it based on the ancient and sacred number 108. Her own curiosity about why 108 sun salutations are done across the globe at the start of a new season or new year caused her to research the depth and meaning of this ritual. She realized just how helpful this could be to bring more love and peace to the world.

Coincidentally or not, love came her way while teaching water classes at the WARF. She noticed a tri-athlete swimming in a neighboring lane. Fernandi and

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

“If you can breathe, you can do yoga,” Monica Fernandi concludes.

Photo by Vicky Moon

the swimmer, Mike King, discovered they had a lot in common. In 2018, they won a municipal contest to tie the knot in front of the “Love” sign in Warrenton, where King is a popular postal carrier.

The following year, Fernandi was attending an area workshop on publishing when the guest speaker, Marianne Clyde, invited her to join a fundraiser for clean water that involved climbing to the south base camp of Mount Everest, 17,598 feet up. Intrigued, she took the idea home to her new husband, who told her it had long been on his “to do” list.

The book went on hold and they trained and researched for the climb later in 2019. She became viscerally aware of the lives of people in a very different part of the world. After 30 years of preaching the importance of drinking enough water, she met people for whom clean water is a luxury.

Then came the experience that changed lives everywhere.

“March 12, Marianne Clyde and I gave a presentation about our trek five months earlier, and the next day the world was different,” Fernandi recalled.

“2020--lockdown--the gift we all received if we look closely. The gift of time.”

Fernandi had time to appreciate her new home in Rappahannock and to work on the book. As her online practice grew, she launched another brand Awakened Soulmate, a life coaching program.

“I help women open their eyes to the radiant being that they are, especially after heartache,” she said, “so that they may feel more confident and maybe even find their next soulmate!”

“Once we all awaken, a deep healing can happen, collectively and individually,” she said. “Yoga is an ancient practice, but it’s never been more relevant. We’re all looking at life from a different angle. And this remedy requires no special criteria.”

On June 15, a Wine and Yoga event from 4-6:30 p.m. at the Welbourne farm in Upperville will feature Monica Fernandi https://www.facebook.com/welbourneinn

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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Here And There | OUT AND ABOUT

Photo by Vicky Moon

Photo by Vicky Moon

Mary Murphy of Thomas and Talbot travels in style.

Hannah Fitzgerald, with her mother Katie Fitzgerald and father Jim Fitzgerald, turned one on Kentucky Derby Day.

Photo by Tom Davenport

Ellie Wood Keith Baxter is expected to once again put in an appearance at the Upperville Horse Show. She’s already been inducted into the show’s Hall of Fame, as well as the Virginia and American Horse Shows Hall of Fame. Add to this the national Pegasus Award recognizing a life time of achievement and contribution to the horse show world. She’s ridden to hounds with Farmington Hunt and numerous others far and wide. She has appeared in many magazines including a November, 1946 piece in Life. This year, friends and guests will celebrate her 100th birthday at a luncheon given by Betsee Parker, a vice president of the show. She is shown here in the 1960s with Taylor Scott Hardin of Newstead Stud.

Photo © dillonkeenphotography.com Photo by Vicky Moon

Chester Hess is a familiar face on Sundays at the Archwood Green Barns Farmer’s Market.

There must be something about this first name…Ellie Stevens hugs a baby goat at the Fauquier Livestock Exchange in Marshall for the Poultry and Small Animal Auction.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

A Day of Celebration for Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area

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Photo courtesy

In other news from the Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area: James Taub is now the new Public Programs Coordinator. Taub has been a well-known volunteer interpreter for the organization for several years and brings an impressive skill set to the team.

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he Virginia Piedmont Heritage Area will hold a belated 25th anniversary celebration on Saturday, June 26 at the historic Goose Creek Bridge on Lemmons Bottom Road off Rt. 50 on the north side between Middleburg and Upperville.

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The Old Post Office

The nonprofit, headquartered one mile from the bridge in Atoka, in 2020 marked 25 years of providing history education to area students, but deferred its celebration until after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.

The organization was founded in 1995 in response to the increased pace of suburban sprawl and the need to emphasize the importance of conservation and preservation in such a historic area.

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In 2019, the VPHA officially reached a milestone of serving 50,000 total students. It also has been involved in preserving land in Loudoun, Fauquier, Warren, Clarke, and Prince William counties.

The June 26 event will take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Goose Creek Historic Park off Route 50, about halfway between Middleburg and Upperville. It will include a continuous living history interpretation, guided tours, scavenger hunts, food, beer/wine, and musical offerings from a professional bluegrass ensemble.

At 10:30 a.m., historian Jim Broomall will speak about local Civil War history.

Next, guests can take a guided tour of the site of the Battle of Upperville in June, 1863 with VPHA’s Historian Emeritus, Rich Gillespie.

That tour will be followed by a guided walk with a NOVA Parks’ naturalist along Goose Creek. The celebration also will feature history talks every 15 minutes delivered by costumed interpreters and others. They’ll cover the Revolutionary War to both World Wars and everything in between.

Music also is on the schedule. The Dargan Benders will play at noon,1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., featuring bluegrass favorites, with dancing definitely encouraged to those inclined.

The band’s lead singer, Bess Putnam, is a well-known local musician known as Blue Mountain Songbird. She’s also a VPHA board member.

Tickets include fresh oysters from the Patuxent River and are priced at $50 for adults, $20 for students, with children 12 and under admitted at no charge. For more information, go to Piedmontheritage.org for tickets and a full schedule of events.

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6/7/21 12:51 PM

Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg? The egg of the Arkansas Blue is very close to the Tiffany blue box of the well-known jewelry store.

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Photos © dillonkeenphotography.com

he stands were full and there were echoes of coos, caaws, crowing and clucking in the cavernous Fauquier Livestock Exchange in Marshall.

Buyers and sellers arrived in the morning toting cages of Seramas, Black Cochins chicks, Australorp, Bantam Roosters, Brahma/Bard Rock cross hybrid roosters and Midget White hens for a recent Poultry and Small Animal Auction. The sale began with eggs in all shades of blue, beige, white and black. A crate of farm fresh eggs went for $3 and a hatching turkey egg went for $14. Manager Stan Stevens was in the auctioneer’s booth…going once, going twice and SOLD.

Ryan Grimsley sells some fresh eggs as Seth Merryman watches the action.

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Shelley Merryman and Roger Beavers.

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Before the sale, buyers come to check out the poultry.

All the chickens arrived and departed in cages.

How much is that chicken in the window?

Before the sale, buyers come to check out the poultry.

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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A Golfing Bond and Buddies For The Ages Chamberlain Hill and Ben Gale

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By Leonard Shapiro

hamberlain Hill was only 11 at the time but will forever remember the kneeknocking day he first played golf with his 65-year-old playing partner, Ben Gale. Or, as he still calls him 20 years later, “Mr. Gale.”

They first met after Chamberlain’s mother, Rhonda Hill, had a casual chat at Upperville’s Trinity Church with Ben’s wife, Debbie. Rhonda happened to mention that her son recently had taken up golf and seemed to enjoy it. Debbie insisted Chamberlain just had to meet her husband, an enthusiastic player.

Chamberlain and Ben played together for the first time at Ben’s home course, Loudoun Golf and Country Club in Purcellville. Chamberlain, a somewhat shy, reserved African-American sixth grader at Hill School, and Ben, a much older and louder retired white cattle farmer, were truly something of an odd couple.

“I wanted to play well so badly, and Mr. Gale could tell how nervous I was,” Chamberlain said.

“The first two holes, I was terrible and getting visibly frustrated. He came over to me and started to calm me down. ‘Chill out,’ he said. ‘Try to enjoy yourself.’

On the fourth hole, I made a birdie. That definitely calmed me down.”

What soon would become a lasting friendship sadly ended last October when Ben Gale died at age 84, succumbing to the cancer he’d been battling for several years. Chamberlain, now 30, said he still has to fight the impulse to dial his friend’s number.

“We would talk about everything, and we disagreed about a lot of things,” Chamberlain said. “I was a young black kid and he was this old white guy; but because we both loved golf, we were able to hit it off…We were just friends We clicked right from the start. That’s all it was.”

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Ben was properly proud of Chamberlain.

He always spoke with great admiration of his accomplishments—in the classroom, on the golf course, his marriage to his college sweetheart, the young couple’s adorable little girls, now 5 and 3, about Chamberlain’s career as an accomplished marketing executive with Leerfield/IMG, a national company heavily involved in college sports.

Andrew Stifler, one of Chamberlain’s Hill teachers and a friend of Ben Gale, described Chamberlain as “just a great kid… Good student. Always prepared.

Loved golf. And Ben wasn’t doing this just to be good to a young black kid. To him, Chamberlain was just a kid who loved the game and wanted to do something in golf. They were truly friends.”

Chamberlain’s parents divorced while he was at Hill and money was tight. But Gale arranged for a junior membership at Loudoun Golf, and frequently took him to play at Millwood Country Club. They lived near each other in the Middleburg area, and Chamberlain said he spent many hours “just hanging out” at Gale’s home.

Chamberlain attended Woodberry Forest, a prestigious all-boys prep school in Orange. Better yet, there was a challenging nine-hole course on campus. He was on the Woodberry golf team and at one point, had an impressive 1.8 handicap index.

Over the summers, he also played junior golf.

Gale helped financially, taking care of instruction, entry fees and traveling expenses. He often took Chamberlain with him on his annual summer fishing trips in Maine, another mutual interest.

Chamberlain’s academic prowess at Woodberry led to being named an Oldham Scholar at the University of Richmond, a full academic scholarship awarded for outstanding achievement in the classroom and qualities of character and leadership.

He graduated from UR with a degree in

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

international business, earned a Masters in sports management at Georgetown and is now living and working in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Over the years, Chamberlain remained in close touch with Ben right up until his death and said he misses his old friend every day.

Stifler organized a small memorial ceremony for Ben at Millwood. Chamberlain had a major business commitment and regrettably was unable to attend, but he composed a deeply moving eulogy read by Tom Northrup, Hill’s Head of School Emeritus. In the audience, tears flowed freely.

“After a while,” Chamberlain wrote, “I realized that good ol’ grumpy Mr. Gale and I were simply very close friends linked at the beginning by our love for the game of golf,,,As time went on (it developed) into an incredible mutual respect that was unbreakable.

“Did we always see eye to eye? Absolutely not and sometimes our differences in opinion made for very difficult and very honest conversations. But our respect for each other always remained constant….

One of the major reasons that I loved Mr. Gale so much is that as loud (mostly because he couldn’t hear) and opinionated as he was, there was never a time where I felt that my opinions, views, or thoughts weren’t respected or being heard.

“I cherished having someone in my life like him…

He is the good Lord’s problem now, and I hope the man upstairs is prepared and has some spare time on his calendar for him. Mr. Gale is coming with a note pad full of questions and a whole bunch of jokes that tend to take some time to develop but usually end up being pretty damn funny.

“I love you Mr. Gale and you will be missed.

Your buddy, Chamberlain Hill.”

A version of this story appeared in Virginia Golfer Magazine.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Revealing and Recalling Warrenton’s Hidden Rosedale

Courtesy of Joe Allen Jr.

Faithfully restored, the old Rosedale wine cooling building is now part of Eastwood Farm.

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By John Toler

or many years, the overgrown thicket seen by drivers headed south on Warrenton’s east bypass as they approach the Meetze Road turnoff has been just that—a tangle of trees and vines. A closer look reveals a crumbling house and a barn or shed, hidden by the trees.

The once structures were part of a large farm encompassing part of southeastern Warrenton. Over the years, the property was divided and bisected by new roads, and ultimately reduced to its now 11.57acre tract owned by Remland LLC and targeted for future development.

Originally 274 acres with a circa-1830 main house, the property was owned in the mid-19th century by John J. Bronough.

In A Pride of Place, Rural Residences of Fauquier County, Virginia (2003), author Kimberley Protho Williams noted that the original section of the house was a “…small, one-and-a-half story log building, typical of the vernacular domestic architecture of Fauquier County, and added onto over the years.”

In 1874 Bronough sold the farm to Robert Mott, who gave his daughter and son-in-law 27½ acres and the house. They renamed it Rosedale. The property later passed to the deVerges family of New Orleans, then to the Lansdales. Both families made significant additions.

The next owner was Frederick Arthur Berkeley Portman (1867-1907). Born in Somersetshire, England, he was a cousin of Seymour B. Portman,

An avid foxhunter, Frederick A. B. Portman was photographed at the corner of Culpeper and Hotel streets with a pack of Warrenton Hunt hounds in 1905.

6th Viscount of Bryanston.

A frequent world traveler, Portman first came to the U.S. as a teenager, and in 1894 married Caroline H. Luke (1868-1956), a native of Christchurch, Australia.

While little is known about Portman’s livelihood, he did love equestrian sports and was involved with the Warrenton Hunt during his brief lifetime.

The Hunt was organized in 1887 and incorporated in 1889. Portman served first as whipper-in, and was Master of Foxhounds from 1899-1903 and 19061907. He also was a starter and participant in many steeplechases, often aboard his favorite hunter, “Titmouse.”

Fauquier Democrat columnist M. Louise Evans was a close friend of Mrs. Portman before and after her husband’s death, and a frequent Rosedale visitor.

She once described the house as being filled with “…antique furniture, needlepoint brought from England, one of the first iron stirrups made in the U.S., and a wealth of hunting prints.”

Also displayed was a sword carried by one of Mrs. Portman’s ancestors in the Battle of Waterloo and a Confederate officer’s sword.

The grounds were given special attention by the Portmans, with “…flagged walks, gardens and flowers, and so improved the lawn around the house until it looks like velvet,” wrote Miss Evans.

Especially noteworthy was the gigantic white oak on the front lawn, the base measuring 19 feet in circumference with a 54-foot spread of its lower branches.

An accomplished horsewoman, Caroline Portman rode with the Warrenton Hunt for many years. From left are hunt members Harry Edmonds, William Emory, Mrs. Portman, J. Chauncey Williams and Richard Barrett. These Portman photos appeared in A Century of Foxhunting: the War-renton Hunt, 1887-1987, courtesy of the National Sporting Library and Museum.

Frederick Portman contracted pneumonia in early 1907, and died shortly thereafter. His death, at age 40, shocked and saddened friends and many others in the hunting world. He was buried in the Warrenton Cemetery.

As reported in Hunts of the United States (1907): “Of the many good sportsmen who have hunted the hounds, Mr. F.A. B. Portman was undoubtedly the most popular Master, being a man of gentle disposition, iron nerve, and a sportsman to the core.”

Mrs. Portman lived at Rosedale the rest of her life. She remained active in the Warrenton Hunt and managed the farm, where she raised and trained her own horses.

She continued to ride nationally and internationally, often competing with the best, including Lady Astor, in venues like Madison Square Garden. She also contributed many articles to equestrian publications. After an illness of several months, she died on Sept. 28, 1956, and was buried next to her husband.

What followed was a succession of different owners. At some point, the 14-foot by 14-foot stone building on the property believed to have been used for wine cooling was moved to nearby Eastwood, along with the monument dedicated to “Titmouse.”

When Kimberly Proto Williams surveyed the house at Rosedale nearly 20 years ago, she noted that “…little remains of the additions. Ruins of numerous buildings surround the house; the entire property is in a ruinous state.”

The magnificent trees are gone, and what remains of the decrepit main house and outbuildings of Rosedale await what will happen next.

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It’s Story Time at Thistlethwaite Americana

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By Leslie VanSant

very piece in here has a story, let me take you on a tour,” says Taylor Thistlethwaite with a smile. He’s the proprietor, or “collectorin-charge,” at Thistlethwaite Americana, a recently opened fine antique shop in Middleburg.

On this day, he’s there with Beckett, his four-year-old English Cocker Spaniel.

Taylor and his wife, Rebecca, left Alexandria for Upperville at the start of the pandemic and haven’t looked back. He’s something of a phenom in the art and antiques world, who, at age 35, already has a reputation for his fine eye, his insistence on high quality items and his obvious passion for history.

He starts at a chest of drawers. It’s beautiful—mahogany with flame birch panels. The finish is buffed to a fantastic luster that allows the richness of the wood and the magic of the flame birch to dance.

As he begins to talk about the chest, Taylor sounds more like a storyteller than a purveyor of decorative arts. “This chest is from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, made in the federal style in around 1810,” he said. “It was made for a baker, Nathaniel Souther.”

“A baker owned this?” he’s asked.

“Yes, he must have been one hell of a baker to own a piece like this.” Then it’s on to the next must-see stop.

Taylor Thistlethwaite grew up splitting time between Bethesda, and summers on his family’s farm in Glasgow, Kentucky. The property there has been in the family since 1792. History surrounded him as a child and became his passion.

He graduated from Center College with a degree in American history, focusing on the colonial period, then went to the University of Kentucky for a Masters in historic preservation.

The tour continues with a small chest on frame, unique because of its small size. The chest was made in Bermuda in the mid-18th century primarily from cedar. This small blanket chest is juxtaposed with a fantastic painted ‘hope’ chest made in Pennsylvania for Elizabeth Bindern in 1788. Thistlethwaite points out

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Photo by Leslie VanSant

Taylor Thistlethwaite and his pal, Beckett, minding the store.

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that each of these chests is important for the style and time that they represent.

Thistlethwaite is animated talking about decorative arts. The interpretation of style would vary craftsperson to craftsperson and differences could be tied to location and use. “You don’t see this today, the sofa you buy at Pottery Barn here in Virginia is the same as the one available in California.”

Admire or use? The furniture and pieces in the shop are all beautiful, but show proudly the passage of time and use, if you know where and how to look.

For example, the color is slightly darker in the decorative edges of a highboy which are hard to clean over time. The patina of the wood differs slightly where it was touched by hundreds of fingers through daily use over the years. A ring on a sideboard left by water long ago. Ink spots on a secretary from pens long dry.

Thistlethwaite leans to using finely made furniture. He suggests that before you refinish that table your great-aunt gave you, consult a professional.

Prior to opening the shop, Thistlethwaite mostly traveled to elite antique shows where he would set up a booth to sell his wares. He’s thrilled to have his first “brick and mortar” presence in a town like Middleburg, resplendent in history, tradition, and of course, horses. A Kentucky boy at heart, he loves the races, and would sometimes skip class to attend the meet at Keeneland. The shop was closed on Gold Cup Day so he and his wife could attend.

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Our tour concludes in the back corner of the shop where there’s a wall hanging featuring a horse. Upon closer inspection, it’s a hook rug. It was made in 1880, but looks all together modern and funky. The dark, black horse, poses on a background that includes pinks, greens, greys, blues and eggplant colors.

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“Making hook rugs was a ladies’ hobby during the Victorian era,” he said. “It allowed people to be creative. This one has lots of different fabrics and yarns, which gives it great color and texture.”

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Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

540-687-5232 • 703-771-3308

Saving Horses, More Than One Rescue at a Time

T

By Leonard Shapiro

he name of the racehorse is not especially relevant, but what happened to one Thoroughbred that had a decent career on the track speaks volumes about the ultimate fate of so many horses that have their lives ended in what are known as the “kill pen.”

When the horse retired from racing, the family of a young girl infatuated with riding purchased and re-trained it as a show horse. The girl and her mount competed for several years, but there was not much riding as she and the horse got older. The family eventually took it to a nearby horse auction, hoping someone else might get that same enjoyment.

Unbeknownst to them, it was purchased by a kill buyer and seemingly destined for a slaughterhouse in Mexico or Canada. Fortunately, because the horse had a tattoo on its upper lip from its racetrack days, it was eventually rescued and put out to pasture, a rare happy ending.

Vicki Bendure and friends.

Vicki Bendure, a long-time local resident and horse lover as well as the owner of her widely-respected Middleburgbased public relations firm, recently related that story. She’s passionate speaking on those odious kill pens and volunteers with several organizations involved in horse rescue, raising funds and trying to increase public awareness of the sad fate

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“I wish I could win the lottery. I’d save them all if I could.” of far too many horses.

up a few hundred dollars.”

Some 80,000 to 100,000 horses a year are estimated to be killed in this manner, and, said Bendure, “I wish I could win the lottery. I’d save them all if I could.”

Two kill pens call HERD when they have viable horses and they’ll sell them for the slaughter price.

Mares and foals are particularly susceptible; foals must be over six months to ship so kill pens will ship the mare and let the foal die. Pregnant mares also are readily shipped, but some kill pens will hold them back to see if they can find them a home.

But she can’t. Instead, she works with a Tryon, North Carolina-based rescue called Helping Equines Regain Dignity (HERD). The non-profit, founded by Heather Freeman and her husband Scott Homstead in 2016, relies on donations and grants to save horses, restore their health, and start a new life.

“Between the auction and the slaughterhouse, these animals experience unbelievable cruelty,” Bendure added. “Many die horrible deaths before they get to slaughter. It’s all heartbreaking.”

HERD has rescued hundreds bought at auction to be sent to slaughter. Many are re-trained and go on to the show circuit or are re-purposed as pleasure and trail horses.

Some relief might come from pending legislation in Congress called the Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act. It reportedly has bipartisan support and would prohibit horse slaughter in the U.S. for human consumption, as well as the export of live horses for the same purpose.

Bendure said many horses purchased by kill buyers eager to make larger profits end up listed for sale on Facebook. For example, they may have paid $500 for the horse at auction, then put it on Facebook for $1,200, with a message that unless the horse is purchased, it will be shipped, maybe the next day, to a slaughterhouse.

It’s truly a form of extortion and, said Bendure, “It happens all the time…It’s totally legitimate for anyone to buy a horse at auction, and a lot of these auctions don’t even know there are kill buyers bidding on them…So much of the public doesn’t know about them either.”

Bendure pointed out that most of the horses she and HERD rescue are purchased at slaughter prices,

A sad scene in a kill pen. meaning they’re not paying exorbitant increased fees.

“We don’t want to prop up the kill pen industry,” she said. “At the same time, it’s tough to watch a great, viable horse go to slaughter because it was marked

Bendure has been a horse lover and owner most of her life. She grew up in New Jersey and Maryland and at age eight, she said, “I used to beg my parents to let me take riding lessons.” She still remembers her first working experience around the barn, cleaning tack and mucking out stalls.

“It was the best day of my life,” she said.

Now, she works tirelessly to make certain as many horses as possible continue their own lives in a safe, healthy environment, far from those kill pens.

And a winning lottery ticket would be nice, as well.

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5/12/21 11:20 PM

Art of the Piedmont and Slater Run Vineyard:

The Perfect Pairing Photos by Vicky Moon Kudos to BethAnn Slater, Head of School at Middleburg Montessori, Team Patusky and Slater Run Vineyard on The Art of the Piedmont. The tasting room was transformed into a lovely light-filled setting bursting with astonishing art. An al fresco dinner catered

by Nomad followed: Montessori Delight: Porchetta, using pork raised and sold by the Montessori school students as part of their educational program, with truffle pasta and asparagus or Vegetarian Delight: Vegetarian ravioli and asparagus. As bidding continued via a virtual link, there was a sweet conclusion: Tiramisu Cheesecake Bars. “This was our best year yet,” BethAnn Slater, Head of School at Middleburg Montessori, said.

“After an amazing evening, $40,000 was raised for the school.

Terry Anderson, Theresa Nang and Steven Josephson.

Mrs. Slater, Head of School, with sculptor Jillian Holland’s My Warrior.

42

Kiernan and Chris Patusky.

Artist Jessica Wilson with her painting, Orange Moon.

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

A four-legged art enthusiast.

that run 300 years deep.

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43

Windy Hill Foundation Always Looking To Do More

O

By Leonard Shapiro

n the surface, the numbers represent an obvious anomaly.

The median income for a family of four in the Middleburg area in 2021 is estimated at about $126,000. And yet, the Middleburg-based Windy Hill Foundation, which provides 310 units of affordable housing to over 800 low and lower-income individuals, families, seniors and adults with disabilities, has never faced a greater demand.

“We’re getting more calls than ever for housing,” said Executive Director Bob Dale, entering his fifth year at the helm of a non-profit that’s been providing affordable housing and countless resident services since 1981.

In addition to 67 Middleburg units, the foundation also provides housing in The Plains, Marshall, Ashburn, and Sterling. The waiting list now ranges from one year to as long as three years.

“I don’t know how much can be blamed on the pandemic,” Dale said. “I just think most people don’t realize how many lower income people we have in this area, especially in Loudoun. People will call the county and they’ll say, ‘call Windy Hill.’”

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The foundation was started 42 years ago by Irene “Rene” Llewellyn, a native of Great Britain who considered Middleburg her adopted home. Windy Hill is an area off Route 50 on the western outskirts of the village where mainly African American families lived.

Back then, fifteen families shared six outhouses and two cold-water spigots. There was no other running water, no plumbing, and some homes had dirt floors.

It all began when she raised an initial $100,000, including donations from members of her bridge club. The foundation has a $1.3 million annual budget. A third comes from modest rents, the rest from grants and donations.

Dale said the foundation has been especially grateful for the continued support of loyal donors during the pandemic. Its annual gala, a major source of financial support, had to be called off last year. Sponsors still supported a stay-at-home version and Dale remains optimistic for a possible November event.

“No matter what, we’re hoping to do in person events,” said marketing director Lisa Capraro. “Our last (gala) we had 375 people. We’re looking at smaller events, different scenarios, but we’ll do something.”

In addition to housing, Windy Hill also provides no-

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

cost, on-site programs and services for its residents.

They include after-school academic and social programs for children, a drop-in summer day camp, tutoring programs during the school year, family programming, and personal enrichment, social, and health programs.

They commit more than $400,000 annually to these programs, with help from individual and organizational donors and grantors from local communities, as well as the greater Washington area.

The goal is to help residents to overcome some of the barriers –housing costs, child care, financial management, employment – that may make it difficult to move themselves and their families from affordable to market rate housing.

“Once they get a roof over their heads and life stabilizes,” Dale said, “we go to work trying to improve their lives and help people become more self-sufficient. Education is our greatest opportunity to break the cycle. A lot of our families have been in this situation for generations.”

Added Capraro, “We want to do it right from the get-go with a commitment to see it through. We

want the residents of Windy Hill to have options. We have a college education fund and many of the students qualify for financial aid.

We’ve also partnered with Fauquier schools to provide after-school programs at Coleman and Marshall Middle School with a funds received through a Federal grant.”

For senior citizens, daily activities range from bingo to yoga to gardening. A grant has provided computer tablets as well as creating free wifi hotspots at two Windy Hill Communities in Middleburg.

They also have three busses that will take residents on field trips, and shopping and running errands.

Some medical services are available through volunteers and partner organizations and the foundation also partnered with local food banks to have a constant supply of food distributed to all Windy Hill communities

Windy Hill executive director Bob Dale (second to left) and Middleburg residents Pauline Haley, Florence Hill, Michael Dade and Witchell Ward.

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

“When I started (as executive director), our number of units was getting ahead of our services,” Dale said. “I was tasked with focusing on resident services. We had a director of services and one person on that staff. Now we have four staff members. And we want to do more.”

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A Talented Trio Rules at Market Salamander

A

By Leonard Shapiro

t Middleburg’s Market Salamander, they like to say their operation post-Covid has been “reinvigorated.” There are new menu items, burgeoning catering and carry-out business and lots of enthusiasm from a growing list of patrons for their special monthly wine dinners.

From the start, Salamander Resort & Spa owner and founder Sheila Johnson wanted to add a convenient, reasonable gourmet dining choice to the village eatery mix.

Market Salamander opened in what once had been a gun shop even before the resort began welcoming guests.

Photo by Vicky Moon

Salamander Market’s Main Men: Jack Nargil catering director with Chef Jason Deaver, and Senior Director of Operations Andre LeTendre.

These days, she has a talented triumvirate leading the way—Market Salamander senior operations manager Andre LeTendre, catering director Jack Nargil and chef Jason Deaver.

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“We are a full-scale caterer,” Nargil said.

“That’s also been part of Mrs. Johnson’s vision.

We’ve seen great relationships develop for our food-to-go business.

We started doing wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to go, an Easter brunch to go.”

All three have been in the restaurant business for many years, even if Chef Deaver is only 26. He said he knew he wanted to be a cook when he was ten. He began on that path at 14 when he bussed tables and washed dishes at a Japanese restaurant in his home area of Sikesville, Maryland. Oh yes, he learned how to make sushi there, as well.

Deaver earned a degree in culinary management at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, worked in restaurants in Frederick for several years and came to Middleburg in 2019. A friend who knew the resort’s executive chef recommended him for the Market Salamander. He’s been there ever since.

Deaver is obviously heavily involved in all aspects of the market’s culinary offerings and describes himself as “a hands-on chef.” He preps, he cooks, he tinkers with ingredients and comes up with new menu items. He’s enamored with Fusion cooking for the wine dinners, and he plans the entire meal, decides on pairings and prepares all the dishes.

“He collaborates with the winemakers and produces these wonderful meals,” LeTendre said.

“He tastes the wine, and then he pairs with what he’s making. He expresses himself that way; it’s his way of being artistic.

Deaver also is heavily involved in the catering business overseen by Nargil, a New Yorker who graduated from George Washington University, dabbled in politics on Capitol Hill, then moved into the hotel business where he served as concierge at several of D.C.’s world-class hotels, including the Hay-Adams.

started doing wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to go, an Easter brunch to go.”

LeTendre oversees the entire operation and has big-time restaurant credentials, as well.

A native of Vienna, Virginia, he said, “I’ve been in restaurants my whole life.” A dinner at the Inn at Little Washington several years ago changed that life when he met iconic founder and owner Patrick O’Connell. He soon was hired as his executive assistant.

He’s helped Market Salamander grow its catering business exponentially, and he’s particularly proud of many new relationships with local wineries that need on-site catering for their own special events.

Like Nargil and Chef Deaver, LeTendre also is particularly proud of those special wine dinners.

They generally draw between 40 and 50 guests who have signed up in advance. Sometimes it’s a twosome or foursome, though occasionally larger groups come in. Among the regular attendees is a local 10-woman book club.

“We are a full-scale caterer,” Nargil said. “That’s also been part of Mrs. Johnson’s vision. We’ve seen great relationships develop for our food-to-go business. We

“Our bosses tell us to pretend this is your own restaurant,” LeTendre said. “And that’s how we try to approach it.”

Antique Arms, Edged Weapons & Armor Since 1957

Dealers and Appraisers for Fine Antique Firearms, Edged Weapons & Armor

www.davidcondon.com Recipient of the United States Department of the Interior Citation for Public Service

(Visit our online catalog) We are always looking to buy vintage guns, daggers,

Purchasing and consigning quality antique arms ofmedals, all types swords, knives, bayonets, uniforms, flags, belts, since 1957. Appraisers and other collectable militaria.We to the Smithsonian, thebuckles National Park Service and also thepurchase National Firearms Museum. sporting gun and military related books, gun related Recipient of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Citation for Public Service. tools, vintage ammunition, etc. If you have any antique or collectable you want Address: to Visit our shop!military or gun items thatMailing sell please contact us for more information on our 109 E. Washington St (Rt. 50) Post Office Box 7 appraisal services, consignment rates or outright sale.VA 20118 Middleburg, VA 20117 Middleburg,

Free 1-800-364-8416 Te. 540-687-5642 • FaxToll 540-687-5649 • Email: info@davidcondon.com 109 E. Washington (Rt. 50) Post Office Hours:St.Tues.-Fri. 10-5:30 • Sat. 10-3Box 7 Middleburg, VA 20117 Middleburg, VA 20118 Tel. 540-687-5642 Fax 540-687-5649 Email: info@davidcondon.com www.davidcondon.com Country ZEST & | Summer 2021

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A happy trail for people and pooches.

It’s a Welcoming, Happy Trail All Around Hill School

By Leonard Shapiro

J

PHOTOS BY MISSY JANES

ennifer Andrews is both a serial walker, and frequent gawker.

The co-owner of the Another Blue Moon consignment shop and Middleburg area resident, Andrews regularly walks the ashphalt, gravel and grass paths all around and through The Hill School’s gorgeous 140-acre campus. And as she walks, she gawks at sights she sees and revels in sounds she hears on virtually every outing as she makes several loops (each loop is 1 1/4 miles) around the property.“I love it,” Andrews said. “You see so much, and there’s this cacophony of sound, maybe crickets or cicadas, birds, bull frogs in the bog. Every season is different, and I’m crazy about the winter, when you really see the contours and the contrast in the land.”

It’s been that way since 1992, when the late Stephen C. Clark Jr., who lived just across The Plains Road, and his daughter, Hill alum Jane Forbes Clark, presented the school a transformative gift of 135 acres. That enabled the Board of Trustees and school leadership to develop and execute a comprehensive master plan for the campus.

Those acres also represented a precious gift to the entire community, particularly when Hill turned the old pastures and cornfields into Middleburg’s version of New York City’s Central Park, no zoo included.

The majestic arboretum designed by former Hill parent and grandparent Polly Rowley that bears her name occupies a cherished area. And the entire property is lovingly maintained by Hill Grounds Supervisor Bob Dornin and his staff.

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A bridge not too far connects to the town.

A pond along a pretty grassy path.

There are regular walkers, runners, and cyclists. It’s a pooch paradise, too, with countless dogs secured by leashes, the better to avoid confrontations with the occasional rabbit, deer or fox that might cross their paths. Hill even provides convenient waste disposal stations so owners can clean up after their pets.

This past Covid-altered academic year, a number of outdoor classrooms with log stools were set up.

Even on nippy winter days, students and teachers, all wrapped up in warming layers of clothing, went through the day’s lessons.

Head of School Emeritus Tom Northrup and his wife, Ann, walk several miles with their dogs almost every day “unless it’s really freezing,” Ann said. “It’s really beyond description…We have this magnificent area in our little town. And it’s constantly changing and consistently beautiful.’

For trail denizens, there are wetlands, ponds, pastures, grassy paths, flower gardens and all those stately trees. It is the Hill School, so there’s a path up a high hill to an American flag flapping in the breeze atop a tall pole visible to one and all.

Many past Hill classes have planted trees, bushes and flower beds that bloom every year. “When the kids come back,” Dornin said, “they’ll go out walking and tell everyone ‘hey, we planted that tree when I was in the eighth grade.’”

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

The pandemic had another significant impact, with a growing number of people using the trails.

Many regular gym dwellers spurned their stationary bikes and weight machines in favor of sociallydistanced fresh air workouts.

“The increase in use was almost immediate,” Dornin said. “Walking just exploded. There were lots of people we knew and many we had never seen before. Some folks said they’d never even known about it.”

Dornin keeps the acreage in its natural state.

The grassy paths are regularly mowed and the vast majority of users always pick up after themselves and their pets.

“I’m always exploring,” Jennifer Andrews said.

“It’s a great retreat, so close to the town. But when you’re out there, you don’t even know you’re near a town. It draws you in. It’s just a sweet spot.”

Dolly Parton’s Library: Birth (Not 9) to Five

D

By M.J. McAteer

olly Parton made headlines last year for her prescient donation of $1 million to help fund efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, but the country music superstar’s record of generosity actually stretches back many decades.

Now, thanks to the efforts of a handful of dedicated, local volunteers, one of the singer’s earliest and longest-running charitable endeavors, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL), has a brand new chapter in western Loudoun called Roots Grow Wings.

The Imagination Library is a sort-of book-ofthe-month club for children aged birth through five. Children in the program, which is open to all, regardless of financial need, receive a free, personalized book mailed to their home every month from birth until they are ready for kindergarten.

The idea is to inspire a love of reading and equalize opportunity before these children even begin school.

Early literacy also is tied to the social and emotional well being of a child, and the books come with educational tips to help strengthen the parent-child bond.

In its quarter-century of operation, Parton’s organization has registered almost 21,000 kids and distributed more than 160 million books. Roots Grow Wings is the commonwealth’s 31st DPIL chapter.

Sue Lyons, a reading specialist at Emerick Elementary in Purcellville, is the point person for the new Loudoun chapter. “It was a pipe dream for 20 years,” she said, but the arrival of Covid was the concerted and unanticipated push that was needed to make it really happen.

Photo by M.J. McAteer

Kristin O’Rourke and Sue Lyons Seeing children lose their access to school and public libraries “was an eye-opener,” Lyons said. So, last year, she gathered a group of ten like-minded mothers and teachers, including Emerick parent Kristin O’Rourke, to lay the groundwork for a chapter of DPIL. “Everyone was all in,” she said..

DPIL requires chapters to partner with a nonprofit to facilitate accounting and logistics, so the first step in turning good intentions into good results was to find a partner. The Rotary Club of Leesburg stepped up immediately.

Ernie Carnevale, Leesburg Rotary’s main coordinator and liaison to Roots Grow Wings, said when he was approached with the partnership idea, his club’s unanimous response was,“Let’s go for it.”

The women, he said, “Did their own heavy lifting,”

while his club helped connect them to other donors and foundations. It also seeded the new DPIL chapter with $1,000 to be matched, which the women did in a record three months.

DPIL advises its chapters to raise enough funds for two years of mailings before launch, and Lyons and her team raised the requisite $7,000 to $8,000 to cover two zip codes to start with--Middleburg’s 20017 and Purcellville’s 20132, which includes Hillsboro and Lincoln.

Registration opened April 1, and by mid-month, Roots With Wings already had enrolled 63 children, O’Rourke said.

The first book to be shipped to every child is the 1930 classic “The Little Engine That Could.” The last is D.J. Steinberg’s 2012 “Kindergarten Here I Come.” All the in-between selections are curated by a committee with an emphasis on diversity.

Roots Grow Wings has been publicizing itself on social media and is planning more fundraisers, such as an art show held in May at Sunset Hills Vineyard in Purcellville. But individual donors can accomplish a lot with their donations. Just $25 is enough to supply a child with books for a year; a $126 donation is enough to sponsor that child for the entire five years.

Dolly Parton’s father was illiterate, so his daughter committed herself to literacy. Roots Grow Wings now has made the same commitment.

The launch of the new program has been laborintensive for the all-woman crew, but the payback has made all their hard work worth it.

“It’s exciting to be part of a project that is so positive,” Lyons said.

THE HILL SCHOOL VOTED #1 PRIVATE SCHOOL IN LOUDOUN COUNTY 2019, 2020, & 2021!

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Outdoor science center, ponds and wetlands on our 140-acre campus

Bus service and before-and-after school care

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Junior Kindergarten through 8th Grade Middleburg, VA Since 1926

49

A Delightful Garden Party

T

he Land Trust of Virginia held its 23rd annual Garden Party…virtually.

And it was, indeed, a very special event along the garden paths at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation in Upperville and at Childs and Elaine Burden’s historic Seven Springs Farm in Middleburg.

LTV currently holds 205 conservation easements that protect 23,088 acres in 18 counties.

2021 CONSERVATIONISTS AWARDS

Landowners: Brad and Tandy Bondi, Katharine Kingsley and the Chatfield-Taylor Family and Melissa and James Pankas. Conservations: Melissa Cantacuzene and Chuck and Stacy Kuhn. Stewards: Robert and Virginia Greenlaw and Earth’s Echo Farm.

Sunday, October 24, 4 pm – 7 pm Come Chill with Us and Enjoy BBQ & Bluegrass!

Join us behind the ‘Brick House’ at Oak Spring Farm for the tastiest BBQ from the legendary Shaffer’s BBQ and the iconic Bluegrass Band,

The Seldom Scene while watching the sunset behind the mountains! After all, isn’t the preservation of that spectacular landscape what it is all about?

$65.00 per person Includes 1 BBQ ticket and 2 drink tickets Limited Ticketing available For Tickets and Information please call (540) 687-8841 or go online to www.landtrustva.org No tickets will be sold at the gate.

Please join Land Trust of Virginia in celebration of Virginia’s open spaces, natural resources, and cultural heritage.

An in-person event: Sunset in the Field will take place on Sunday, October, 24, hosted by the Vogel Family at Oak Spring Farm, with BBQ and Bluegrass by The Seldom Scene. For tickets: Kerry@landtrustva.org

Ivan Martinez of The Conche in Leesburg offered instructions for cocktails.

LTV Garden Delight: 1.5 oz Vodka 1 oz Lime Juice 1 oz Pineapple Juice 0.75 oz Ginger Honey Syrup 3 turns of Black Pepper Muddled Honey Dew, Basil, Mint. Shaken, served tall on rocks with tajin rim garnish with Mint and Dehydrated Lime Bar tools you never knew you had ...

Measuring Cups = Jigger Mason Jar/Water Bottle/Protein Shaker = Shaker Chopstick = Bar Spoon Slotted Spoon = Strainer Wooden Spoon = Muddler How to combine these ingredients to make your Garden Delight Cocktail:

Grab your shaker. This is where you’ll be mixing all the ingredients together to create your wonderful concoction.

Next, you grab your honeydew, basil, and mint and muddle.

Then, mix in your lime juice, pineapple juice, ginger honey syrup, and black pepper.

Always leave your alcohol for last, just in case you mess up.

Next, prepare the glass with a tajin rim. Pour some lime juice and tajin on two separate plates. First dip the rim of glass in the lime, next in the tajin.

Now you’re ready to shake.

Pour ice both in glass and shaker. Shake until cold and strain over ice.

Garnish with mint and dehydrated lime.

Proceeds raised from Sunset in the Field will support Land Trust of Virginia’s mission.

50

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

And local charcuterie connoisseur Regina Alvir of The Cornichon recommended a variety of artisan cheese pairings to include Chevre, Brie, Manchego, white Stilton with apricots, and Cheddar along with a variety of nuts, dried fruits, crackers, and chocolates and several edible flowers.

Photo by Doug Gehlsen Middleburg Photo

Hadden Frost rode Mrs. John. R. S. Fisher’s Schoodic to victory in the four-mile $60,000 Virginia Gold Cup timber race, presented by the Virginia Equine Alliance. The 11-year-old bay gelding by Tiznow out of Aunt Henny is trained by Jack Fisher and won by 5 ¾ lengths at Great Meadow.

Photo by Vicky Moon

Michael Whetstone, Stewart Powell and Virginia Fout had a day out at the Middleburg Spring Races.

Photo by Vicky Moon

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

A few young race fans at Great Meadow for The Gold Cup.

Cristina V. Mosby Owner and Breeder of Thoroughbred Horses — based at Hollywood Casino Charles Town Races at the West Virginia Thoroughbred Breeders Association Annual Award with Master of Ceremonies Mary Sell of Takaro Farm. The event was held at The Barns at Maple Valley in Shenandoah Junction.

The WV Bred Horse of the Year was Star of the Night, bred by Heinz Steinmann, owned by Huntertown Farm and trained

by Jeff Runco.

Photo by Vicky Moon

Photo by Leonard Shapiro

Will and Christina Allison, Al Griffin and Beth Turner at the Gold Cup.

Making a decision with Len Gold at the Middleburg Spring Races at Glenwood Park.

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Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

51

Grace Episcopal Serves on Many Cultural Fronts

R

By Emma Boyce

everend Weston Mathews has served as rector for Grace Episcopal Church in The Plains for only four years, yet he has bridged the difficult gap between tradition and innovation in building a burgeoning cultural center within the church.

At Grace, there is space to create. Along with art classes and the Grace Church Concert Series, now in its 21st season, Mathews has welcomed two resident theater companies, Natasha Parnian-Farms’ Dark Horse Theater and Shakespeare Opera Theater.

“With theater, you can address community issues in a way that’s sometimes harder to do on a Sunday morning,” said Mathews, who, among many other interests, has a background in theater. “I think good, strong local theater helps build healthy communities.

I also think people who are spiritual but not religious might plug in and see a different side of kindness and compassion by coming to the show.”

Most recently, Mathews has been working with Miriam Burns, former conductor for the New York Philharmonic and Ohio State University Director of Orchestral Studies, to bring a resident philharmonic ensemble to Grace.

“The goal is for us to be a community center where people can find a place of rest and refreshment.”

Mathews points to the parish green, historically a common ground for villages. He envisions people gathering for picnics, watching plays, or simply enjoying nature. Whether a member of Grace or a fleeting visitor, Mathews wants anyone who comes to

52

the church to feel welcome.

“People can see something beautiful and be a part of that,” he said. “No screens.”

The path to the priesthood hasn’t always been straightforward for Mathews. In graduate school at William and Mary, he re-examined his faith after having stepped away from the church in college. After teaching six years of American history at Nelson County High School outside Charlottesville, he finally attended seminary in Photo by Vicky Moon The Reverend Weston Alexandria.

After graduation, he Mathews of Grace served as associate priest Episcopal Church. at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Richmond. St. Stephen’s, with membership in the thousands, has a far different pace than Grace.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take much for Mathews to make the transition.

“I knew there was a great value in the land and water and animals here,” said Mathews, who is passionate about conservation Away from the church, he also runs Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice, an environmental nonprofit, which fought and won against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

In the fall of 2019, Mathews also helped found Grace Montessori, a diverse faith-based school,

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

available to ages 18 months to six, that works closely with Windy Hill, Virginia Department of Social Services and Fauquier Social Services. Mathews and School Director Micah Earle has seen it grow even more during the pandemic.

“It’s really important that early childhood care is accessible to all,” Mathews said, crediting its scholarship program with increasing diversity.

“That’s been a real blessing to get to see a lot of young families and meet their needs.”

During the pandemic, Mathews partnered with other churches, organizing joint worship services and, with First Baptist down the road in The Plains, blended feeding programs. Grace’s weekly food pantry, Peas and Grace, open Tuesdays and Saturdays, remains an essential resource for families.

“I’ve seen people be so resilient and so kind during Covid-19,” he said. “Our church really pulled together and rallied around each other. It’s emblematic of the spirit of this place and it’s not just Grace, it’s Marshall and Middleburg and The Plains.

We’re all very connected to each other.”

After more than a year of outdoor and online services, parishioners are finally returning to the pews. When Mathews speaks about his faith, it’s hard not to “plug in.” It’s intertwined, of course, with Grace Church, his environmental pursuits and interests in the arts, but also with the surrounding community.

“It’s the communion table where people from every background all kneel together,” Mathews noted. “There are not a lot of spaces in our life where people can come from very different backgrounds and do the same thing. Here we start with oneness.”

Farmer’s Daughter Features HOME SWEET HOME Locally Grown Produce IMPROVEMENTS

Photo by Linda Roberts

Owner Scott Donnelly and staff member Samantha Gibson at the counter of The Farmer’s Daughter in Clarke County.

A

Whether you are planning to remodel your kitchen, transform your master bath, finish a basement or build an addition, you need more than a contractor. You need a partner you can trust with the possession that says the most about what you value and the way you live.

By Linda Roberts

nchoring Waterloo’s northeast corner where Routes 50 and 340 intersect in Clarke County, The Farmer’s Daughter is a popular community shopping destination for fresh vegetables, locally sourced meats, eggs, jams and jellies and much more.

“We’re trying to stock as much local food as possible,” said owner Scott Donnelly of Boyce. A friend of Billy Eyles, the store’s former owner, Donnelly decided to purchase the business once Eyles told him he was planning to sell.

Market regulars were happy that there was a seamless transition of operations from Mt. Airy Market to The Farmer’s Daughter.

Donnelly’s 14-year-old daughter, Emma Jo, came up with the new name, The Farmer’s Daughter. She can be found on weekends helping her dad at the store. A staff of six part-time employees, all sporting matching t-shirts with the market’s logo, keep things running smoothly, ring up sales, and answer customer questions.

“This is a real community type of business,” said Donnelly. “People come in and introduce themselves and stay and talk for a while,” he added, noting that many have favorite items they seek out each week. Long-time customer Bill McLean makes it a frequent habit to secure a tasty pound cake while others place weekly orders for cuts of meat.

Weekends are particularly busy, with smoked half chickens and ribs the big sellers, along with barbecue sandwiches. “Most of what we smoke is already spoken for as customers call and reserve their orders by phone,” said Donnelly.

He advises call-ahead requests to avoid disappointment if the market is sold out.

As the growing season continues, The Farmer’s Daughter will increase its local offerings, adding to favorites such as Chapel Hill’s Randall Lineback cuts of beef, South Mountain Creamery’s milk and ice cream, cucumbers from “down the road,” and delicious home-baked goods that come in each Friday from Winchester.

When not at the market, Donnelly, who grew up on a farm in Glade Springs and went to Virginia Tech, can be found overseeing his construction business or helping the local 4-H Club and his daughter with her sheep projects. He’s lived in Clarke County for 21 years.

“The community support at the market has been great,” he said. “It’s very important to me that I operate a business where people feel comfortable and can come in and shop on a regular basis. We think of The Farmer’s Daughter as a happy place where people can find what they’re looking for in the way of locally grown and harvested items.”

Design Build Remodel 540.439.8890 HomeSweetHomeImprovements.com

The Farmer’s Daughter is open year around from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Visit The Farmer’s Daughter on Facebook for additional information.

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

53

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VIRGINIAHORSERACING.COM 54

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

Bundles of Experience as an MVP for OCH

F

By Roger Pearson

or many, Bundles Murdock is the face of Orange County Hounds (OCH). She checks members in at meets, she greets visitors, gets releases signed, and accepts capping fees.

However, there is so much more to her than that.

She’s the fourth generation of her family to live in the Middleburg area and involved in fox hunting.

Her great-grandmother, Mrs. Harris Hulbert, and her grandfather, William P. “Pappy” Hulbert, Sr., came here in 1912 from Cincinnati specifically for the hunting.

Bundles’ mother, Catherine Hulbert Harts, was field Bundles Murdock secretary for the OCH from 1990 until 2004.

Murdock began assisting her mother in 2000, and when Mrs. Harts retired, she officially took her place. After the death of the OCH’s long-time Honorary Secretary, Mary-South Hutchison, in 2013, Murdock was appointed to that position by the Board of Stewards.

Another of her essential duties is that of “road-whipping” in her vehicle. She’s gone to great lengths to protect OCH’s beloved hounds, even to the point of putting herself and her vehicle in danger.

Elsewhere, her late father, Lewis Murdock, was MFH of the Essex Fox Hounds in New Jersey for many years and considered an all-round sportsman. Essex was one of the greatest packs outside of Virginia.

Away from hunting, Murdock also had an interesting and multi-faceted life and career.

Born in New York City, she was educated there as well as in Switzerland and France. Fluent in French, she was brought up in Geneva, and began her business career there in 1967 as assistant to the manager at Smith Barney and Harris Upham.

Returning to New York in 1973, she began working at Tiffany & Company, selling in each department, then moved to the diamond office, eventually becoming lead buyer.

She also worked as a travel agent before joining the U.S. Department of State in 1981. Working in the office of protocol, she coordinated all state and official visits made by presidents, prime ministers and royals.

President Ronald Reagan appointed her Assistant Chief of Protocol, then Deputy Chief. She was presented the State Department’s Distinguished Honor Award by Secretary George Shultz. She left State at the end of the Reagan Administration in January 1989.

Between 1989 and 1991, Murdock was on special assignment at the Embassy of Saudi Arabia, the Smithsonian Institute, the U.S. Economic Summit of 1990 (where she was assistant to Mrs. George H.W. Bush) and was Vice President at Hill & Knowlton, the Washington public relations firm.

In 1991, she was hired by the Embassy of Kuwait as special assistant to the Ambassador to the United States. He later became Minister of Oil and returned to Kuwait. She continued working for him privately until his death in 2012, handling his U.S. affairs.

Locally, she served on the Middleburg Town Council from 2004 until 2016 and was a board member and president of the Middleburg Community Center. She has has been on the Middleburg Planning Commission and still is on the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Murdock currently serves as vice president of The Blair House (The President’s Guest House) Restoration Fund in Washington, and as an advisory director of the National Sporting Library & Museum. She’s also an active real estate agent with TTR Sotheby’s in The Plains.

Bundles Murdock may be the face of the OCH, but clearly, there’s so much more.

GRADED FEEDER CALF SALE SCHEDULE June 11th - Marshall, VA July 2nd Sa turd-a yCulpeper, , April 24th, 20VA 21 July 9th - aMarshall, VA t 1:00PM

Sa turda y, April 24th, 2021 Take the dayDay before. a t 1:0An 0in Pimal Mon Take-In of Sale: Sale starts at 10:30 am Animal Take-In Day of Sale: 7:00AM

– 12:00PM

Regular 7:00AM Sales –EVERY starts at 1 pm.

12:00PM Tuesday *No out of state birds* *All poultry to be in cages*

*No out of state birds* *All poultry to be in cages*

Check our FB Page and Website for anyForchanges and additions more information, contact: *25% Commission on all items* *25% Commission on all items* *Food available for purchase* *Food available for purchase*

For more information, contact:

Office: (540) 364- 1566Office: (540) 364- 1566 For more information, contact: Stevens: (540) 631-3523 Office:Stan (540) 364-1566 Stan Stevens:(540) 631-3523 FLX is not responsible for accidents

Stan Stevens: (540) 631-3523  FLX is not responsible for accidents  No guarantee on items sold  No puppies to be sold

 No guarantee on items sold

PO Box 247, Marshall, VA 20116 7404 John Marshall Highway, Marshall, VA 20115to be sold  No puppies (540) 364-1566 FauquierLivestockExchange.com FauquierLivestock@yahoo.com

7404 John Marshall Highway, Marshall, VA 20115 PO Box 247, Marshall, VA 20116 7404 John Marshall Highway, Marshall, VA 20115 540-364-1566 | FauquierLivestockExchange.com | FauquierLivestock@yahoo.com (540) 364-1566

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Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

55

Fernando Villavicencio: A Fencing Master

F

By Leslie VanSant

or nearly twenty-five years, Fernando Villavicencio has been the face of George White Fencing. Leading a professional and dedicated crew, it’s safe to say that the Middleburg-based company has built miles of fencing across Loudoun, Fauquier, Rappahannock and Prince William Counties.

To put this in perspective: a five-acre paddock requires approximately 1,850 feet of fence. A conservative estimate of installing about half a mile of fence every week of the year, figuring some weeks are more and some less to account for weather, adds up to 26 miles a year. Over his 25 years, that would total 650 miles of fence, the equivalent of a 10-hour drive from Middleburg all the way to the Georgia-Florida border.

But for Villavicencio and his crew, it’s all in a day’s work.

He started working for company founder, the late George White, in the early 1990s. A native of Chile, he had come to the United States to follow his chosen career path: agriculture. After working on a few farms around Middleburg, White hired him.

“I started in the feed store,” Villavicencio said, “but I was always ordering the supplies for the fencing crew.”

When the feed store closed, and the fencing business was starting to grow, Villavicencio started doing more and more. Then, when White wanted

Photo by Leslie VanSant

Fernando Villavicencio of George White Fencing. to scale back and semi-retire in 2002, he was put in charge of the business.

Anyone who’s ever had to dig a fence post hole or replace more than a few boards knows that building a fence is physically challenging, and it’s also harder than it looks to build a good, solid fence.

The purpose of the fence must be considered. Are you fencing something in, or fencing something out?

For example, you fence around a paddock or field to keep livestock in. Around a pool or garden, it’s there to keep things out—deer and critters (or maybe even your neighbors).

“I like to walk the perimeter with the client, and understand how they are going to use the fence, by asking questions,” Villavicencio said. He then makes suggestions and recommendations such as where to install a gate, proper fence maintenance and more.

The visual aesthetics come next. There are several options, 3-board, 4-board, wire, split rail, deer fence, picket, or fancy estate fencing. And color must be considered, too.

The “secret recipe” for fencing, according to Villavicencio, is the quality of both materials and the installation. “When you build a fence with the best materials,” he said, “it should easily last for 20 years.”

He also attributes the company’s success to his experienced work crew. “These guys have been working with me for 15 to 20 years,” he said, adding that their familiarity with each other and the rhythm of working together goes a long way toward an efficient and effective installation.

For the record, 3-board fence, painted black, is their best seller, the choice by three of every four clients.

Most find Villavicencio’s contact information from a neighbor, or from the sign on the neighbor’s fence. You can learn more about this familyowned business by visiting their website, www. georgewhitefencing.com.

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Steeplechase & Flat Racing Partnerships Racehorse Sales 372 acres on route 15 South/Lime Kiln Road, Leesburg Rare opportunity to own a large parcel of land south of Leesburg with extensive frontage on James Monroe Highway. Originally part of the historic Oatlands Plantation on the other side of route 15, the main lot of 167.7 acres is in a permanent open-space easement that does not allow building on the property. The remaining 217.55 acres have been divided into 7 buildable lots. - $3,500,000 Peter Leonard-Morgan | Global Real Estate Advisor | Hunt Country Sotheby’s International Realty Direct - 443.254.5530 | peterleonard-morgan@hcsir.com | peterleonardmorgan.com © MMXXI Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated. Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC.

56

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

RIVERDEE STABLE & CLANCY BLOODSTOCK Anne & S ean Clanc y Middleburg, VA

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New Story Map Focuses on Fauquier’s AfricanAmerican Heritage

I

MARSHAL 7-ELEVEN

YOUR HOMETOWN GO-TO CONVENIENCE STORE “Give the customers what they want, when and where they want it.”

—Joe C. Thompson Jr., 7-Eleven Founder

7-Eleven was the first to provide to-go coffee cups!

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n 1860, about half of Fauquier County’s population was made up of free and enslaved African-Americans.

But on the heels of the historical periods of slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, the great migration, civil rights and integration, descendants of these residents now make up less than 10 percent of Fauquier’s population. Only Photo by Hugh Kenny, PEC remnants of their many Karen Hughes White (AAHA) and Kristie Kencommunities are still present, dall (PEC) outside the Afro-American Historical yet their contributions to Association of Fauquier County headquarters Fauquier County remain. in The Plains.

The Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County (AAHA) and The Piedmont Environmental Council, with assistance from Fauquier County’s GIS department and funding from The PATH Foundation, have teamed up to develop and launch a digital story map that attempts to tell the history of the lives of these often overlooked and forgotten Americans.

“For many years, I have envisioned a map of Fauquier County with various overlays pertaining to African-American history,” said Karen Hughes White, president of AAHA. “When Kristie [Kendall, PEC historic preservation coordinator] and I talked about it, I thought: yes! This would be one layer of African-American heritage, and immediately my mind started racing about all the other stories and history that could be continuously compiled.

“A lot of Fauquier’s history is well documented, but the African-American presence is often invisible within textbooks and other areas.”

The new interactive story map, visible at www.aahafauquier.org/storymap, includes a map of Fauquier County with points locating African-American schools, churches and communities established before and after the Civil War. Visitors can click on each point to see a photo and read a short description. A “read more” cue takes visitors to an interactive webpage with additional history and photographs.

Kendall said the project was a “massive undertaking” on the part of AAHA staff, who led the project and built upon decades of prior research identifying and documenting the history of African-Americans in the county.

The PEC provided drone photography, and with its story mapping experience, created the interactive web map embedded within the story map site, which is hosted through PEC’s ArcGIS Online subscription.

For AAHA Board Member Angela Davidson, the story map project has given her “a whole new sense of pride in families that came through Reconstruction to today.”

Davidson is one of four generations living on property purchased in the early 1870s by her great-great grandfather, Brister Grigsby, in historic Morgantown.

As increasing development and property taxes continue to impact these communities, Davidson said, “I think all of us, at my age and younger, are looking at how long these communities will remain intact. I’m afraid if we don’t get this history documented, it will be lost.

“If new owners know the history of what’s taken place on the property they’re buying, they’ll take pride in these historic communities in which they’re living.”

Over time, AAHA is hoping to add other African-American contributions, including cemeteries, buildings, businesses, baptism sites and landmarks pertaining to the underground railroad.

And the group hopes other community members will recommend additions as they realize they have photographs or other artifacts that can be shared through the story map.

“This will be something that will definitely live beyond us,” Hughes White said.

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Milk Bread Cereal Medication Laundry Car Maintenance • Telephone Chargers • Batteries • AND SO MUCH MORE ...

7-Eleven was the first to offer a self-serve soda fountain!

7-Eleven coined the phrase “Brain-Freeze®”!

As a franchise owner and an active member of my community, I’m proud to be a part of the 7-Eleven and Marshall, VA story. Stop by and see us!

— Bernice Simpson

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

57

Modern FINANCE

BAKKT To The Future With a Digital Wallet

B

By Philip Dudley

akkt.

Dharma.

Xapo.

MetaMask.

That may sound like words of ancient Greek, but it’s nothing of the sort. Welcome to the new world of digital wallets, an app on our phones and laptops that is opening up a new frontier of the internet 3.0 revolution.

I’m well-versed in PayPal (PYPL) and Square (SQ) because I’ve been laser-focused on how they have and continue to disrupt traditional financial services.

I’ll also admit that I’ve been a little late to the digital wallet party, but I now have my glass of punch and I’m definitely paying attention.

So what are these things anyway?

The simplest answer: they’re all the same, yet different.

Bakkt is a custody service that stores Bitcoin in cold storage. Dharma is an Ethereum wallet that connects your bank account to the world of DeFi (short for Decentralized Finance). Xapo is a hybrid digital wallet allowing its users to send, receive, store and spend traditional currencies and Bitcoin.

MetaMask is an Ethereum wallet used to interact

201030

with decentralized applications on the Blockchain.

Xapo has a cool (no pun intended) story because it offers cold storage in underground vaults.

Literally. The Swiss Xapo vault is located inside a decommissioned Swiss military bunker. James Bond has nothing on this Xapo crew.

In the end, this also is a generational story. I’ve

had many conversations with folks of a certain age about digital wallets and such. One such gentleman has a habit of buying gold coins through the mail with cash. That’s right—the old greenback way. While there’s nothing wrong with buying gold through the mail with an envelope full of Benjamins, I would suggest a better way forward with DeFi and digital gold.

Two weeks ago I was reminded of how far we’ve come as a modern society.

Remember my long lost fictional friend Bushrod Rust? Well, while walking the dogs one morning, I stepped over a bronze coin in the road bed adjacent to the house. I initially thought it was a British pound, only to discover it was a Coronet Liberty Head Large Cent minted in Philadelphia in 1817.

The fascination is two-fold: How did it manage to survive 204 years? And how did it get there? We’ll never know, but I imagine it fell out of Bushrod’s pocket while he was distracted on horseback. On the other hand, if he had it stored in his Xapo wallet in a bunker in the Swiss Alps, it might still be there.

Philip Dudley is Managing Partner of Dudley Capital Management, LLC at 115 The Plains Road, Suite 250 in Middleburg. For more information he can be reached at 540-687-4600 (office), 202-441-7707 (cell) or philip@ dudleycapital.com

45209

every smile

comes from a place of safety and security that only a home can bring.

The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) and the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign (CVC) are now underway for all Federal and Virginia State employees and retirees. Please consider giving to Fauquier Habitat for Humanity.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to build a better life.

Donate or volunteer at Fauquierhabitat.org.

58Habbitat CFC_CVC Ad.indd

2

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

10/14/20 8:53 AM

For This Artist, It’s All About the Horse, of Course M

By Leonard Shapiro

adeleine Bunbury admits she’s been “obsessed with horses my whole life,” and it shows. Just one look at her magnificent equine artwork is all that’s necessary to know she’s already an immensely talented artist. Even at the ripe old age of 25.

There’s another relevant number to this remarkable story. She’s a native of Mustique, a Caribbean Island with a population of 2,000 where her father is the only physician. She was schooled in England, where she now lives, and said, “My lifelong ambition is ‘Around The World In 80 Horses.’ I want to do 80 different horses, all as life-sized paintings, and then have an exhibition.”

Bunbury came to Middleburg for the first time about two years ago to paint a commissioned work for Barb Roux at St. Bride’s Farm in Upperville and stayed for several months, occasionally riding to hounds, as well.

“Madeleine captures the soul of her subjects,” Roux said. “Her paintings are remarkable.”

Out in the field with Middleburg’s Lee McGettigan, the two struck up a conversation that ended with Bunbury doing a pencil sketch of one of McGettigan’s foals.

“She is just an amazing young girl,” McGettigan said.

“In the old days, you’d say ‘great class.’ She has that English manner, very gracious and way beyond her years. I fell in love with her. In some respects, there’s plenty of room for her to grow. In other respects, she has a tremendous eye, and she will only get better.”

Bunbury’s learning curve began in elementary school. When she handed in her math homework, she often doodled a horse in the margins.

“I’ve been obsessed with drawing horses all my life,” she said. “I was a high school dropout and went to Florence for three years to study human portraiture. I realized afterward that horses are so much more beautiful than people.”

Bunbury left the Charles Cecil Studio in Florence after three years, moving back to England where she began her life’s work.

“A friend would give me a room for the night and I’d do a painting for someone nearby. You could say I’m a traveling artist.”

Word of mouth about her art began to spread among England’s considerable horsey set, all the way up to the top echelons of royalty.

Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge and Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, often vacations on Mustique. A year ago last March, he commissioned Bunbury to paint the Queen’s 12 broodmares as a birthday present.

Why is she so enamored with horses?

“Everyone is different,” she said. “They all have different facial expressions, different body shapes.

When you look at a herd, they all have a unique look.”

Madeleine likes them life-sized.

Bunbury prefers to capture that look up close and personal. For the most part, she eschews painting horses from photographs. Instead, she works in the barn right in front of her discerning eyes. Her paintings are priced from $10,000 for smaller works up to $16,000 for a life-size portrait.

“I like doing them life-size,”she said of canvasses 12 feet long by seven feet high. “When I have them in

front of me, there’s just more life to them.”

Bunbury returned to England in March and will revisit the Middleburg area in September. When she first arrived, she said, “I didn’t know anything about Middleburg, but I do now. It’s a wonderful place.”

To ride, and, of course, to paint horses, and only horses.

“It never gets old,” she said. Especially at 25.

Country ZEST & Style | Summer 2021

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It’s Full Speed Ahead at Middleburg Real Estate

I

By Leonard Shapiro

t was only supposed to be a year, the better to have their first child in the U.S. before Peter Pejacsevich and his wife, Ali, returned to London to resume their respective careers. It never happened.

Instead, after living in a tenant house on her grandfather’s Atoka Farm halfway between Middleburg and Upperville, they became Peter enamored with the Virginia countryside and Pejacsevitch the people who live there and never moved back to Great Britain.

“We just loved it out here,” Pejacsevich said in a recent interview.

“We met so many nice people and it just made sense to stay here.”

A native of Vienna, Austria, Pejacsevich had sold real estate there early in his career before moving into film production work in London. When they decided to stay in Virginia, he got his real estate license and joined the Middleburg office of Long & Foster.

He also met and partnered with Scott Buzzelli there, and four years later, the two friends and colleagues decided to purchase a small local firm, Middleburg Real Estate, starting with only five employees, including the two of them.

These days, it’s a far different story. Middleburg Real Estate/Atoka Properties now has nine staff and 73 real estate agents, with a 2020 sales volume at $330 million, a 44 percent increase over the previous year. The company is about to open a new office in Winchester in addition to its Middleburg headquarters and offices in Leesburg, Purcellville, Ashburn, Marshall and Charles Town, West Virginia.

The Middleburg area real estate market remains hot, hot, hot for all the local firms, and the pandemic and historically low interest rates have helped fuel the ever-increasing flames. With so many people working from home, and planning to keep doing so, a number of former city dwellers are looking for a less frenetic, country lifestyle, not to mention no commute, another major factor in reduced local inventory and significant increases in prices in an obvious seller’s market.

“Right now, there’s little inventory and a lot of buyers,” Pejacsevich said. “You better put your best foot forward if you’re making an offer. Be as competitive as you can right out of the gate because everyone else will be, too. It’s been an unbelievable ride.”

Pejacsevich knows plenty about unbelievable rides. He and several Middleburg area friends, including Alex Vogel and Brian Wilson, have formed an auto racing team that competes in the American Endurance Racing series. They’re held at some of the east coast’s finest venues, including Watkins Glen, N.Y. and Summit Point in nearby West Virginia.

The AER series, with races lasting between eight and 14 hours, began in 2014 out of a desire for an inclusive endurance racing series with simple rules. According to its website, “AER’s goal is to provide a fun, safe environment for experienced drivers to participate in endurance races using almost any production based race car.”

There are photos of he and his teammates and their performance car displayed on the walls of Pejacsevich’s expansive third-floor office at the company’s Middleburg location on Washington Street.

He’s clearly comfortable with life in the fast lane, both on the race track and in the current warp-speed local real estate market, as well.

An historic old mill, circa 1820, sits on the property.

PROPERTY Writes

Breathtaking Views All Around Fleetwood Farm West

F

leetwood Farm West showcases the rolling hills and majestic mountain views that Virginia’s Hunt Country is known for far and wide.

Comprised of 17 parcels totaling 1,326-plus acres of mature Fauquier County farmland, this massive plot sits only 60 miles west of Washington D.C. not far from the historic village of Paris, Virginia.

There are four rental homes and a historic stone mill, c. 1820 on a property that also includes Crooked Run and a pond. It’s located a stone’s throw from Sky Meadows State Park and multiple country towns, including Delaplane, Upperville, Middleburg, and Millwood just over the mountain.

There are ample trails and many local activities to enjoy. Access to the property is a snap with road frontage that includes Route 17 and Leeds Manor Rd., with Interstate 66 less than ten miles away and Dulles Airport a 40-minute drive. This property is not yet in conservation easement.

The Blue Ridge foothills beckon to the west.

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Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

The property also includes a white brick, 4,500-square foot home.

Fleetwood Farm West 1702 Winchester Road’ Delaplane, VA 20144 Currently listed at $10.7 million

by Principal Broker/ Managing Partner Peter Pejacsevitch at Middleburg Real Estate/ Atoka Properties office: 540-687-6321 ext. 104 cell: 540-270-3835 peter@atokaproperties.com Fertile farmland and expansive pastures abound throughout the property.

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61

JOHN WARNER: O

Senator, Statesman, Sportsman

n the morning of May 25, not long after it was announced that Senator John Warner had died at the age of 94, Mike Smith, who now owns Atoka Farm, drove across the Atoka Road from his home at Poplar Grange and draped the farm sign with a simple black shroud. This is where Warner lived, rode, married a well-known actress and entertained friends and supporters for black tie dinners and Atoka Suppers. The 350acre farm, also once owned by the late Hubert Phipps, is now perpetually in conservation easement with the Land Trust of Virginia after Smith purchased the property in 2016.

Out riding.

Photo © Douglas Lees

Senator John Warner presents the Gold Cup trophy to Shirley Fisher at the 1992 event.

John Warner was the definition of a true Virginia gentleman.

Photo © Wendy Smith

State Senator Jill Vogel with Senator John Warner and Mike Smith.

Photo © Howard Allen

John and Liz at The Coach Stop.

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John Warner was with Virginia Guest at the races.

Go Green Middleburg | Summer2021

File Photo ©

Janet and Charles Whitehouse, Cate Magennis, Bruce Sundlun and John Warner.

ATOKA

MIDDLEBURG REAL ESTATE

PROPERTIES

S I M P LY B E T T E R .

1702 WINCHESTER RD | DELAPLANE

33846 FOXLEASE LN | UPPERVILLE

$10,700,000 | Fleetwood Farm - West showcases the rolling hills & majestic mountain views that Virginia's Hunt Country is known for. 17 parcels totaling 1326+/- acres of mature farmland, this massive plot sits just 60 miles W of Washington DC. On the property are 4 rental homes and a historic stone mill, c. 1820, Crooked Run, and pond.

$9,500,000 | Foxlease Farm: 160+/- glorious acres* in Upperville's Hunt Country. Since Foxlease Farm’s purchase in the late ’90s, it has been transformed into a one-of-a-kind equestrian facility: 2 horse barns (12 stalls / 17 stalls), 3 run-in sheds, machine shed, hay barn, riding ring, multiple fenced paddocks, 2 silos w/ rolling hills & trails to ride out.

35487 SNAKE HILL RD | MIDDLEBURG

21167 TRAPPE RD | UPPERVILLE

$5,500,000 | Mortgage Hall is situated in the heart of hunt country minutes from historic Middleburg. The 121-acre estate boasts a Georgian Mansion, built 1850, that currently operates as a destination event venue and horse farm. With scenic views of the countryside & Bull Run Mountains the “manor house” is the perfect venue or family home.

$3,950,000 | Stunning manor home with 4 BD, 3 bathrooms, & 3 half bathrooms w/ a beautiful lake view on 166 lush acres.

This light-filled home features exposed beams, exquisite HW floors, updated bathrooms, custom cabinetry, & countertops.

Large kitchen island, numerous living spaces, & back porch make this home an entertainer's delight.

10155 JOHN S MOSBY HWY | UPPERVILLE

15 N BRIDGE ST | ROUND HILL

$790,000 | Lovely Colonial hilltop home set on 10 peaceful & private wooded acres! 4 BD/4 FB/1 HB on 3,500+/- finished sqft. Main level: hardwood floors throughout, beautiful primary suite w/ standing shower, double sink, & walk-in closet, combined kitchen/dining area w/ cozy corner pellet stove, den, & living room w/ cathedral ceilings.

$399,000 | 3 lots totaling 3.27 acres being sold in their entirety in the town of Round Hill. Public sewer and water from the town of Round Hill. No covenants or restrictions. Private access driveways are required to be installed across the flood plain contractor proposal available.

Peter Pejacsevich PRINCIPAL BROKER + MANAGING PARTNER Licensed in Virginia M 540.270.3835 | O 540.687.6321 x 104 peter@atokaproperties.com

Scott Buzzelli PARTNER + REALTOR® Licensed in Virginia M 540.454.1399 | O 540.687.6321 x 101 scott@atokaproperties.com

S I M P LY B E T T E R . | M I D D L E B U R G R E A L E S TAT E . C O M OFFICE LOCATIONS IN MIDDLEBURG, MARSHALL, PURCELLVILLE, LEESBURG, ASHBURN, AND CHARLES TOWN CORPORATE: 10 E WASHINGTON ST, MIDDELBURG, VA 20117 | 540.687.6321 | LICENSED IN VA + WV (WV BROKER JOSH BEALL)

WE SPECIALIZE IN ROADS LESS TRAVELED ND

LA

Bolinvar

Legacy Farm

100 acres $8,495,000 Middleburg – 22 elegant rooms and 9 fireplaces, all superbly detailed and beautifully appointed. Brilliant gardens surround the heated pool. Fabulous 11 stall stone stable with 2 staff apartments.

Riding ring and green house.

450 acres $5,400,000 Stretching from 5 Points Rd in the Plains, to Rectortown and Frogtown Roads in Marshall. Protected by an Easement with the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.

Located in Prime Orange County Hunt Territory, a most prestigious location.

Mary Ann McGowan | 540-270-1124

John Coles | 540-270-0094

D VE O E PR RIC M I P

ND

LA

Deerfield Farm

White Oak Farm

Maidstone

Oatlands

178 acres $3,900,000 Upperville – Impeccably restored brick manor house, ca. 1844. Perennial gardens and orchard, guest house with theatre, guest/pool house, pool, 2 tenant houses, 5 bay garage, workshop, 2 ponds, fenced fields and paddocks.

93+ acres $3,800,000 Middleburg – 1st time offering of this wonderful ‘Hanback built’ home with spectacular Blue Ridge Mtn views. 5 BR / 5.5 BAs. 4 fireplaces, hardwood floors & mature landscaping. 2 BR / 1 BA tenant house, 6 stall barn w/paddocks. 2 ponds.

44 acres $3,650,000 Rectortown – Turn-key estate protected by conservation easement, which allows for development of equestrian facilities. Views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, a 7-acre fenced vineyard with vistas of rolling hills, woods and pastures all around.

62.4 acres $3,000,000 Aldie – South-facing, gently undulating topography – suited for use as a vineyard, with views of the mountains. Half open pasture and half wooded, includes a 1.25 acre spring-fed pond and 2 streams. 9 stall center aisle stable with a large apt. above.

John Coles | 540-270-0094

Cricket Bedford | 540-229-3201

John Coles | 540-270-0094

Cary Embury | 540-533-0106

ED V O E PR RIC M P I

ND

LA

Bonnie Glen

Carrington Land

Thumb Run Farm

Rectortown Rd.

24.59 acres $2,350,000 Middleburg – Renovated w/over 6,000+ sq ft. classic c. 1915 farmhouse with 2 primary suites, 2 BRs, 4 full BAs and 3 half-baths.

Meticulously maintained, a wonderful mix of old and new. Barn, paddocks, run-in shed, spring fed pond. Great ride out.

163+ acres $1,714,125 This spectacular 410 acres of land consist of rolling fields, lush woodlands, streams, a small pond, and mountain land. The 6 tax parcels which comprise the 410 acres are protected under a conservation easement which allows for a maximum of 4 divisions.

35 acres $1,500,000 Marshall – Thumb Run Farm is an idyllic country home with tremendous privacy and views of the Shenandoah National Park. In a highly sought after location, this property, as well as most of the surrounding land, are protected by easements.

5 acres $899,000 Marshall – Charming family home is surrounded by estates providing privacy and protection. 5 BRs / 3.5 BA, completely finished and move-in ready, with hardwood floors throughout. High Mountain Farm Broadband wifi. Well maintained gardens.

Cricket Bedford | 540-229-3201

Will Driskill | 540-454-7522

Rebecca Poston | 540-771-7520

Will Driskill | 540-454-7522

Offers subject to errors, omissions, change of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is deemed reliable, but is not so warranted nor is it otherwise guaranteed.

Opening the door to horse country for generations 2 South Madison Street | PO Box 500 | Middleburg, VA 20118 | Office: 540-687-6500 | thomasandtalbot.com