 
Brentmoor
Photograph courtesy of Scenic America: Cheryl Shepherd
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A classic Italian
Villa-style dwelling, Brentmoor was built in 1859-61 for Judge Edward
M. Spilman. In his book The Architecture of Country Houses (1850),
Andrew Jackson Downing illustrated a design resembling Brentmoor described
as "a simple, rational, convenient, and economic dwelling for the southern
part of the Union." The Spilman family sold the property in the 1870s
to James Keith, president of the Virginia Court of Appeals. In 1875 John
Singleton Mosby, the Confederate ranger, purchased the house. Mosby, with
his Partisans outwitted the Union army during the Civil
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Brentmoor c.1976
Photograph from National Register Collection, courtesy of Virginia
Historic Landmarks Commission
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War to the extent that much of northern Virginia was known as "Mosby's
Confederacy." Mosby sold the house in 1877 to former Confederate general
Eppa Hunton, who was then serving in Congress. Brentmoor was the childhood
home of Eppa Hunton III, a founder of the prominent Richmond law firm
Hunton and Williams.
Brentmoor is located at 173 Main St., in Warrenton. Although Brentmoor
is currently not open to the public, the town of Warrenton has purchased
it, and intends to open it as a museum in the future.
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