Located in Fredericksburg, on River Road. Purchased in 2005 by Gary Gratopp and Linda Morrison, who developed the concept of an “almost Eden” for weddings and other events, and opened their winery in 2015. The property is currently for sale for $1.7 million.
Wine. Tier III. The winery uses grapes from the estate’s one acre of vines, and a three-acre property nearby with the same ownership. Wine names follow the spirit of “almost Eden”: (from the website) Serpentine Blanc (try it if you dare!), Eve’s Delight (tempting!), and Adam’s Rib (because he loved), and “Fig Leaf” Red and Forbidden!
Setting. One star. Beautiful estate grounds reflect the site’s popularity as a wedding venue. Tasting room is in a small cottage and a barn next to the main house.
Stories. George’s Washington’s boyhood home. Just across the Rappahannock from Fredericksburg is the newly opened site of Ferry Farm, George Washington’s Boyhood Home. In 1738, George Washington’s father, Augustine, acquired the plantation named after an old ferry service across the Rappahannock. Augustine Washington held political office, owned several thriving plantations, and was a managing partner of Accokeek Iron Furnace located six miles north of Ferry Farm. He moved to the farm in the fall of 1738 from Mount Vernon with his second wife, Mary Ball Washington, and their five young children, including six-year old George, the future First President of the future United States. Augustine Washington died in 1743; George remained at the home until his 20s, and Mary Ball Washington until her death in 1772. The property saw four more houses built on it, until a fire in the 1990s. Walmart sought unsuccessfully to build a store on the property in the mid-1990s, after which it was purchased by the George Washington Foundation. In 2008, archaeologists announced that they had found remains of the boyhood home. In 2015, the Foundation began constructing a replica of Washington’s boyhood home on the site of the original building. The replica house was completed in 2018 and is open to the public.