Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park, Middletown

This plantation is very well kept. I can smell the cows as I got closer to the mansion and there weren't that many cows. This property is very spacious with an amazing view. I love the countryside. I have my 2 little ones with me, and dogs are not allowed in the visitors center or the mansion. I'm okay with that since I came to walk the grounds. There is little shade except for under a tree or from a building.

Welcome to historic Belle Grove Plantation, the home of Major Isaac Hite and his wife Nelly Madison Hite, sister 33 of President James Madison. Con- structed of native limestone and built between 1794 and 1797, Belle Grove was the social and cultural center of a thriving grain plantation that eventually comprised more than 7,500 acres of land and a workforce of 103 African-American slaves. Architecturally influenced by Thomas Jefferson, the Manor House features several Jeffersonian innovations including a cross-axial (T-shaped) one-story dwelling over a raised basement. The design of the Manor House also employs both Germanic and English building traditions. Belle Grove still maintains its architectural integrity after more than two hundred years, including its original southern pine floorboards and carved woodwork, and solid oak support structure. Isaac, Nelly, and their two children lived at Belle Grove until Nellys death in 1802. Isaac later married Ann Tunstall Maury, with whom he had ten children. The home of the Hite Family until 1860, Belle Grove was at the epicenter of the 1864 Civil War Battle of Cedar Creek. Swirling around the Manor House, the battle left bullet holes that are still visible in the front porch columns. Today, Belle Grove Plantation is an historic site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is operated by the nonprofit foundation Belle Grove, Inc. Belle Grove and National Trust Memberships, which include a variety of special bene- fits, are available at the Admissions Desk or in the Museum Shop.