Long Grass Plantation facts for kids
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Long Grass
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Front view of Long Grass Plantation
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 Location in Virginia
Location in the United States
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| Location | VA 826, Eppes Fork, Virginia |
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| Area | 40 acres (16 ha) |
| Built | 1800 |
| Built by | Jacob W. Holt |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 95000894 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | July 21, 1995 |
Long Grass Plantation is a historic house and a special historic area. It is located in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. The area was once part of the Roanoke River basin. In the 1950s, much of the land was flooded. It became part of the Buggs Island Lake/John H. Kerr Reservoir.
The main house was built around 1800 by George Tarry. It was on land that belonged to his father, Samuel Tarry. The original Long Grass Plantation covered about 2,000 acres (8 square kilometers). Today, most of that land is underwater. The United States Army Corps of Engineers owns the submerged parts. Only about 27 acres of privately owned land remain. This property was added to the Virginia Landmarks Registry in 1995. It was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places on July 21, 1995.
The Main House: A Story of Change
The original house was built around 1797. It was a small "hall and parlor" style home. This means it had a main room and a smaller room next to it. George Tarry likely moved into this house. Over the years, the house was changed and expanded. This happened in four main stages. Two stages were in the 1800s and two in the 1900s.
Early Additions by Jacob W. Holt
The house you see today was mostly shaped by changes made in 1832. These changes were done by Jacob W. Holt. He was a builder and architect from Warrenton, North Carolina. In 1831-1832, Holt added a new section to the front of the house. This new part was two stories tall and much larger. It was built in the Greek Revival style.
The two parts of the house were connected by a one-story hallway. This new front section had a grand entrance. It featured a porch with "Jeffersonian" details. The double front door had glass panels around it. This large addition showed the family's growing wealth. Their money came from growing tobacco using slave labor. The new section was built as a wedding gift in 1832. George Tarry married Mary Euphemia Hamilton that year.
Around 1857, Holt made more improvements. By then, he was using the popular Italianate style of architecture. He raised the roof of the original 1797 house. This made it a full two-story building. He also designed a fancy, one-story porch for the back of the house.
Mid-20th Century Updates
During the Great Depression, a tenant farmer leased the house. The Tarry family moved back to Long Grass in the late 1950s. In the 1950s, the house was updated with modern systems. The one-story hallway connecting the two parts was made into two stories. Two new bathrooms were added. One was upstairs in the new hallway space. The other was downstairs in the 1832 dining room. The Tarrys changed the dining room into a bedroom. They used the original 1797 parlor as their dining room. They also added a kitchen next to the original 1797 house.
Recent Renovations
The most recent renovation happened from 1992 to 1994. This was after Bruce and Sudie Park bought the property. The house was completely updated. Spaces on either side of the connecting hallway were enclosed. A breakfast room and a library were added downstairs. Two new bathrooms were added upstairs. New closets were built to keep the rooms looking balanced. The 1950s bathroom was removed from the 1832 dining room. New, modern heating and cooling systems were installed. The entire house received repairs inside and out. New foundations were built for the porches. A new metal roof was also put on.
The main entry hall has a special wall covering. It is an 18th-century Chinese hand-painted wallpaper. This was given to Long Grass by the Marshall Cooper Family. It came from their old home in Henderson, North Carolina.
Historic Outbuildings
Several old buildings on the property have been saved. These include an ice house, a smokehouse, a kitchen/laundry building, a schoolhouse, and tobacco barns. There was also a tenant house. This tenant house was made of hand-hewn logs. It is now in poor condition. The tobacco pack house is also falling apart. The other buildings are still strong. An old wooden carriage house was destroyed by lightning in the 1980s. It was on land owned by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Parks bought it, but it was too damaged to fix. They plan to build a new carriage house on its old foundation.
The Ice House
The ice house was built around 1832. It is a two-story wooden building. It is unusually large for an ice house. It has a deep pit underneath. There are two doors at ground level to access the cold storage. In winter, ice was collected from nearby ponds. Layers of ice and sawdust filled the 14-foot pit. This kept the ice from melting in the hot Virginia summers. Vents helped keep the building cold. Later, the first floor was used for storing corn. The second floor became a pigeon coop. The pigeons provided food for the family. The family stopped keeping pigeons in the 1960s.
The Schoolhouse
The one-room schoolhouse was built around 1800. It was updated in the 1950s. It became a lake cottage with a kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping loft. This building is a log cabin. The Tarry family covered it with barn siding and added a tin roof. It was a girls' school for families in Mecklenburg County until the early 1900s. The teacher slept in an upstairs loft. After the school closed, it was used as a blacksmith shop.
The Smokehouse
The smokehouse was built around 1832. It was known for being one of the largest and most secure in the area. It had a very strong, thick door. Since the 1960s, this building has mostly been used for poultry.
The Kitchen and Laundry Building
This building was also built around 1832. It was originally only a kitchen with a large stone fireplace. Later, probably around 1857, a laundry room was added. This doubled the size of the building. The original fireplace was shared by both sides. In 2016, a storm caused the fireplaces to collapse.
The Tobacco Pack House
The tobacco pack house has serious damage but is protected. This is where Burley tobacco was prepared. It was sorted, hung, and cured in a damp cellar. Then it was dried on the second floor. Finally, it was packed into wooden barrels. These barrels were then rolled to the Roanoke River and shipped to market. The building has two stories. It has a large pit underneath for storing cured tobacco.
Other Structures and Discoveries
An old "two-seat" outhouse was on the property when the Parks bought it. It has since been taken down. Many foundations of old tobacco curing barns can be found in the fields. Two log tobacco barns from around the turn of the century are still standing.
When the Buggs Island Reservoir is drained for maintenance, many more foundations become visible. These are along the old flooded road. They show where other buildings once stood. These include a mill, a ferry, a tannery, and a brick-making area. In the garden, there are two millstones from Tarry's mill. The Tarry family also owned a ferry and a landing.
It is said that George Tarry bought Bugg's Island. The Virginia side of the reservoir is named after it. The North Carolina side is named James H. Kerr Lake Reservoir. This is for a North Carolina congressman who helped get funding for the lake.
Old maps from the Civil War era show that worker housing was not close to the main house. House servants lived in the main house. Field workers lived in small homes further away. After the Civil War, the Tarry family gave land to their former slaves. Many of their descendants still own this land today. It seems that many freed workers continued to work at Long Grass for years.
Important Trees at Long Grass
The Constitution Oak
In the front yard of Long Grass, there is a special tree called the "Constitution Oak." It is a Bur oak. This tree was a gift to George Patrick Tarry. He was a delegate from Mecklenburg County to the constitutional convention of 1901–1902. Each delegate received a young tree to plant in their home county. This was to remember the event.
In 1951, there was a 50th-anniversary celebration of the 1901 convention. A man visited Long Grass to collect acorns from the tree. He wanted to grow new trees for the ceremony. He said that very few of the original trees had survived. The next spring, he brought Mrs. Tarry a young tree. She planted it in the backyard. So, Long Grass has the "Big Daddy" tree in the front and its "Son" in the back.
Other Notable Trees
A huge Osage orange tree grows in the side yard. Family stories say this tree came from Tarry's cousin, Meriweather Lewis. He was part of the famous Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804-1806).
Each time a child was born to George Patrick Tarry, a walnut tree was planted. Two of these three trees are still there today. One is next to a hedge near the front porch. The other is covered with ivy near the kitchen door on the back porch.
