Middletown, VA Photo - Manor House at Belle Grove, Middletown, Virginia

The Manor House at Belle Grove. Major Isaac Hite and his wife Nelly Madison Hite (sister of President James Madison) built Belle Grove in 1797. Major Hite was the grandson of Shenandoah Valley pioneer Jost Hite, and expanded his original 483 acres to a prosperous 7500 acre plantation, growing wheat, raising cattle and Merino sheep, and operating a large distillery and several mills. The centerpiece of the property has always been the Manor House. Based on design principles of Thomas Jefferson, this elegant Federal era home features intricate, handcarved woodwork and a restored interior. The house was constructed of native limestone quarried on the property. The house is owned and managed by the National Trust for HIstoric Preservation.

Carol M. Highsmith (born 1946) is a photographer, author, and publisher who has photographed all 50 of the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico for 30 years. She specializes in documenting architecture, ranging from the monumental to the everyday and whimsical. Highsmith is donating her life ’s work of more than 100,000 images, copyright-free, to the Library of Congress, which established a rare one-person archive. Out of 14 million images, the Carol M. Highsmith collection is featured in the top six alongside of Mathew Brady and Dorethea Lange. Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.