Built 1845 VLR # 110-0004 Area 3 ha Phone +1 703-248-5171 | NRHP Reference # 73002210 Designated VLR June 19, 1973 Opened 1845 Added to NRHP 26 July 1973 | |
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Location 312 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia Address 312 Park Ave, Falls Church, VA 22046, USA Architectural style Greek Revival architecture Similar TownePlace Suites Falls Church, Residence Inn Fairfax Merrifield, The Falls Church, The Falls Church (Anglican), Greensboro station | ||
Cherry hill farmhouse city of falls church
The Cherry Hill Farmhouse is a museum in Falls Church, Virginia, United States. Built in 1845 in a Greek Revival architecture style, it belonged to wealthy farmer families until 1945, and in 1956 it became property of the city of Falls Church, which transformed it into a museum, as a historical building. Today, the Cherry Hill Farmhouse, along with other five such constructions in Falls Church City, is part of the National Register of Historic Places, as an important testimony of 19th century Victorian buildings in the area.
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History
The house hosting the museum was built in ca 1845 as a farmstead in a Greek Revival architecture, and inclusive of a frame barn. Mr. William A. Blaisdell, who managed a stall in the nearby District of Columbia, purchased the house in 1856 as part of a 73-acre farm.
From 1870 to 1945 the house belonged to the Riley family. Poet James Whitcomb Riley included in his poems the Farmhouse and some of his residents. The farmhouse, barn, and outbuildings belonged to the University of Virginia from 1945 until 1956 when the city of Falls Church purchased them along with the rest of the property bounded by Park Avenue, Little Falls Street, and Great Falls Street. The city restored the house, and made a museum to exhibit the lifestyle of the prosperous families of the area. Nowadays the house is included within a 7-acre park.
The museum includes the household's authentic 18th and 19th century furniture, which along with other historical pieces, are owned and maintained by a foundation called Friends of Cherry Hill, whereas the barn houses a 19th-century collection of tools.
The Cherry Hill Farmhouse & Barn is part of the National Register of Historic Places. and is only one of overall six Falls Church buildings of the Victorian era to be in that list (no commercial buildings from that period have survived).