There's reason to celebrate whenever a historic home is saved from the wrecking ball or the ravages of time. After all, as a venerable sage once said, "Old homes cast long shadows." Unfortunately, it's only after these structures are gone, and their shadows fade from our surroundings, that we truly feel the loss. Such was the seemingly inevitable plight of Mount Ida Plantation. But that's just the beginning of the story.
Still Standing...Almost
Built in 1795 in Buckingham County, Virginia, Mount Ida held the reputation as one of the South's finest late-Georgian style
homes. Set on a hill overlooking the James River, the house was enlarged around 1850. This addition gave balance and near
symmetry to its imposing front facade of whitewashed clapboard siding and stately Doric porch columns.
Though listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1986, and later on the National Register of Historic Places, the house fell on hard times. By 1995, Mount Ida sat abandoned and dilapidated. All seemed lost until a Charlottesville businessman took on the cause.
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