Reevesland

Reevesland (Reeves Farmhouse or Torreyson Farm) is an historic home and an Arlington County Local Historic District located in the Boulevard Manor neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia. Reevesland, originally the Torreyson farm, had the distinction of being the last operating dairy farm in Arlington County.

The estate, located at 400 N. Manchester Street in the western part of the county in what is now the Boulevard Manor neighborhood, consists of two acres of land with a house and outbuildings which were originally part of a 160-acre dairy farm.

Arlington County acquired Reevesland in October 2001. Reevesland was listed on the Arlington County Register Of Historic Places in 2002. Reevesland was designated an Arlington County Local Historic District, December 11, 2004.[1] The house is a historic house museum operated by Arlington County Parks & Recreation.

History

Three generations of the same family have owned and operated the farm, which originally extended from Wilson Boulevard on the north to beyond Arlington Boulevard to the south, and west to Seven Corners. The land was purchased in 1863 by William H. Torreyson of Unison, Virginia. Torreyson built the house in 1865 and used it as a tenant house. Around 1900, the house was enlarged to its current size. The last owner, Nelson Reeves, son of George Richard Reeves, Torreyson’s son-in-law, was born in this house in 1900. In 1910, the property passed to George Reeves. In 1924, father and son formed a partnership which lasted until the elder Reeves’ death in 1949. The property then passed on to Nelson and his wife, Louise, who continued to raise dairy cattle and crops until 1955. After the Reeves ceased farming, the land, except for the two acres on which the house stands, was sold off and subdivided. As for outbuildings, two remain on the property: the barn, which has been converted into a garage, and the milkhouse.[2]

Future

On May 19, 2015, the Arlington County Board voted 3 to 2 to sell the Reeves farmhouse and 6,000 square feet of land to private buyers.[3]

In August 2015, a coalition of neighborhood and historic preservation groups, including the Arlington Historical Society, the Boulevard Manor Civic Association, and Preservation Arlington, proposed to establish a new nonprofit group with the goal of acquiring and maintaining the historic Reeves farmhouse.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Reevesland". Arlington County Government. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Arlington County Register of Historic Places Historic District Designation Form - Name Of Property. Historic Name: Reevesland. Other Names: Torreyson Farm http://arlingtonva.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2014/03/Designation-Reevesland.pdf
  3. ↑ "Virginia Politics: Arlington to sell historic Reeves farmhouse", Patricia Sullivan, The Washington Post, May 20, 2015 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/arlington-county-will-offer-historic-farmhouse-for-sale-as-a-private-home/2015/05/20/3eb2b290-fe96-11e4-833c-a2de05b6b2a4_story.html
  4. ↑ "New Group Vies to Buy Reeves Farmhouse in Arlington", Patricia Sullivan, The Washington Post, Aug. 5, 2015 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/new-group-vies-to-buy-reeves-farmhouse-in-arlington/2015/08/04/d684f596-39f7-11e5-9c2d-ed991d848c48_story.html

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