Huntland is a history of an historic estate in Middleburg, beginning in the 1830s, when master builder William Benton created the original house, and covering the state of the house and grounds—and its owners—into the third decade of the twenty-first century. It is a story full of intriguing and colorful characters, beginning with the self-made, multi-talented Benton and his children. The story focuses on the mercurial Gilded Age millionaire Joseph B. Thomas, who turned Huntland into one of the nation’s premier fox-hunting facilities in 1913; the Brown Brothers, George and Herman of Houston, who ran the giant construction company Brown & Root, and purchased Huntland in the 1950s; and the accomplished polymath Betsee Parker, who restored the house, kennel, and stable to its nineteen-teens splendor, beginning in 2007 when she purchased the property.
Journalist and historian Marc Leepson is the author of ten books. His latest, Huntland: The Historic Virginia Country House, the Property, and Its Owners, 1741-2022, was published in December 2023.
Pre-registration is required for this event. Please call 703-737-7195, email balchlib@leesburgva.gov or register online https://tinyurl.com/TBLEvents