The Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society will host its fall fundraiser on Sunday, Oct. 13 from 2 to 4 p.m. They will meet at Historic Rosegill on the banks of the Rappahannock River. Dr. Gordon Blaine Steffey, Historic Stratford Hall’s Arthur Lee historian, will be the guest speaker.
During the afternoon’s festivities, the museum’s annual Preservation Award will be presented to retired Col. A.B. Gravatt III in honor of his late wife, Diane Gravatt, for her hard work and diligence in the preservation of Lansdowne. They completely restored the historic residence after purchasing the house and property on Virginia Street in the heart of Urbanna in 1998. Gravatt’s commitment to the heritage of the house and its story is at the heart of why the Middlesex County Museum has a Preservation Award honoring local stewards of Middlesex history.
Built out of handmade local bricks, Lansdowne was constructed about 1740, and is a two-story, five-bay, T-shaped, dwelling in the early Georgian style. It consists of a main section measuring 52 feet by 25 feet, with a rear wing of 36 feet by 18 feet. The front facade features a tall pedimented portico projecting from the center bay. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 as one of Virginia’s finest examples of Georgian architecture due to its colonial design and quality craftsmanship.
