Brentmoor: The Spilman-Mosby House - Virginia Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

C 92 Brentmoor: The Spilman-Mosby House

This classic Italian Villa-style house was completed in 1861 for Fauquier County judge Edward M. Spilman. James Keith, who later served as president of Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (1895 -1916), acquired it in 1869. John Singleton Mosby purchased the dwelling in 1869. Mosby, a Confederate Colonel, commanded the Partisan Rangers (43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry) which raided Union outposts, communications and supply lines in Northern Virginia (1863 - 1865). Eppa Hunton, a Confederate brigadier general, lawyer, a member of the U.S. Congress House (1873 - 1881) and Senate (1892 - 1895), bought the house in 1877 and owned it until 1902.

The Department of Historical Resources

Brentmoor: The Spilman-Mosby house is a National Register of Historic Places property known as a ‘commodious example of the Italianate Villa style located in the heart of the community of Warrenton, Virginia.’ Brentmoor was built in 1859-1861, for Edward M. Spilman, a judge of the Fauquier County Circuit Court. The Spilman family sold the house in the early 1870s to James Keith, who served as president of the Virginia Court of Appeals and John Singleton Mosby’s law partner in Warrenton
In 1875 the property was purchased by John S. Mosby, the Confederate ranger who was then Northern Virginia’s best known citizen. During the Civil War, Colonel Mosby and his small band of partisans outwitted and outfought the Union Army to the extent that the region from the Potomac to the Shenandoah Valley became known as “Mosby’s Confederacy.” His cool, quiet courage and the almost unvarying success of every enterprise which he personally conducted secured the perfect confidence of his men, noted one of Mosby’s Rangers.
Following the death of his wife Pauline and youngest child, Mosby sold the house in 1877 to former Confederate general Eppa Hunton, who then represented the district in Congress.
In his pattern book, The Architecture of Country Houses (1850), Andrew Jackson Downing illustrated a design for a house resembling Brentmoor which he described as a “simple, rational, convenient, and economic dwelling for the southern part of the Union.”

The Historical Marker is located on the front lawn of the site. It appears to be a fairly new addition to the VA Historical Markers. This museum is just starting to get off the ground with renovations still on going. Their may be a fee to enter the home. Check website for hours and days open. Located in Old Town Warrenton, Virginia on Main Street.

Marker Number: C 92 Marker Title: Brentmoor: The Spilman-Mosby House Marker Location: 175 Block of Main Street County or Independent City: Warrenton Web Site: [Web Link] Marker Program Sponsor: Department of Historical Resources

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Date Logged Log   06/30/2023 Don.Morfe visited it 09/30/2006 Rivers End visited it

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