1780s DeJarnettes Tavern For sale....Ask to Hunt it

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1780's DeJarnette's Tavern For sale....Ask to Hunt it

DeJarnette's Tavern, built in the 1780s, is located on Highway 40 or Stage Coach Road in Halifax County. The house is on three acres which includes a log granary, a chicken house and the remains of two tobacco barns. DeJarnette's Tavern is a rare, surviving example of vernacular tavern architecture.

The building has had a long and storied past, serving as a farm house, stage coach inn, tavern, and mustering place for Civil War soldiers. Legend has it that Daniel DeJarnette (1768-1831) won the tavern in a wrestling match. Other folk tales abound, including that DeJarnette was over 7 feet tall and was buried in the family plot in a piano case.

All stories aside, the DeJarnette family legacy begins in Virginia with the arrival of Jean DeJarnette (1680-1765), a Huguenot who fled France to escape the turmoil created by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Arriving in America around 1699, DeJarnette first settled in Manakin Town, an area assigned to Huguenot immigrants located south of the James River near Richmond.

In 1767, property under the name James Pemberton DeJarnette, son of Jean DeJarnette, was first recorded in Halifax County. James DeJarnette had ten children; one of whom was Daniel DeJarnette. The tavern remained in the DeJarnette family for six generations before it was purchased by the APVA Preservation Virginia Historic Properties Revolving Fund in 2001.

Mr. Edward Chappell, head of architectural research at Colonial Williamsburg, describes DeJarnette's Tavern in his April 23rd, 2001 field-notes as: ". . .among the most distinctive taverns in Virginia, both in form and finish." "The essential points are that the form is wonderfully distinctive and resolved. Its position on Route 40 makes it a remarkably strong landmark."

The building has a stone foundation with frame construction, wide unpainted weatherboard siding and a very steep gable roof. The first floor features tavern rooms described as "the most memorable in Virginia." The large front tavern room has 10" to 13" wide, hand-planed horizontal wall sheathing that has never been painted. Unfortunately, the original mantle is gone. The original enclosed stairway is intact and leads to a large, open (unheated) upstairs room. The supra-attic, also unheated, provided extra sleeping space.

Only one large rock chimney survives on right side of the house. The left chimney was removed in the late 1940s.

The rear addition which houses the dining room and kitchen was added in the early 20th century which enabled the tavern to function more as a farmhouse. Despite the addition of the ell, the building has changed very little since it construction.

The house has been deemed eligible for listing on the Virginia Landmarks Register. Once listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register historic restoration tax credits are available for appropriate work.

Conditions of Sale and Restrictions: Purchaser pays all closing costs. Once the property is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register protective easements will be placed on the property.

Contact:

Sarah Cooleen, Revolving Fund Manager
scooleen@apva.org
 

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Re: 1780's DeJarnette's Tavern For sale....Ask to Hunt it

Wow! And only $29,000 for the house + 3 acres! I'm sure the place has great potential for Coins, relics and artifacts.

We did a club hunt of a tavern (or "ordinary", as they were called in the 18th century) site in northern VA a few weeks ago. George Washington slept there. No, REALLY! He wrote about the place in his diary. The building was built in the early 1700's. Finally pushed down about 1925.

We found a 1773 Virginia half penny, George III English half penny, colonial shoe buckle, 6 colonial era buttons, brass beer barrel tap, brass bedknob, assorted brass door/cabinet knobs... Not to mention about a 1/2 ton of iron objects...

Also found a wide assortment of Civil War items including a VERY nice sword belt buckle and several eagle buttons. It was a great hunt.

So... do your homework and find those old tavern sites! They are loaded!

DCMatt
 

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