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Belle Grove at dawn

photo by: National Park Service/Buddy Secor

Historic Sites

Belle Grove

A Distinctive Destination
  • Constructed: 1797
  • Address: 336 Belle Grove Rd
    Middletown, Virginia 22645
  • Hours
    Monday–Saturday
    10 a.m–4 p.m.
    Sunday
    1 p.m.–5 p.m.
  • Phone 540-869-2028

Visit Belle Grove

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A National Trust Historic Site, Belle Grove is located in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley south of Middletown, Virginia. It includes a meticulously restored 1797 Manor House, built by Major Isaac Hite and his wife Nelly Madison Hite, sister of President James Madison.

Major Hite, grandson of Shenandoah Valley pioneer Jost Hite, expanded his original 483 acres to a prosperous 7,500-acre plantation, growing wheat, raising cattle and Merino sheep, and operating a large distillery and several mills. The site survived being the epicenter of the Civil War and continues its farming operations today.

In addition to touring the house, guests may visit the historic garden and 19th- and 20th-century outbuildings related to plantation life and farming operations. Belle Grove is a partner of Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park.

Interior of Belle Grove with a spinning wheel

photo by: Ron Blunt

The grounds at Belle Grove feature the 1815 icehouse and smokehouse, demonstration garden designed by the Garden Club of Virginia, slave cemetery, and a heritage apple orchard.

Interior of Belle Grove Plantation

photo by: Ron Blunt

Once "the most splendid house west of the Blue Ridge," the Manor House still retains its original charm.

Belle Grove from afar at dusk

photo by: National Park Service/Buddy Secor

The Manor House is only one part of Belle Grove Plantation, which encompasses over 7,000 acres of land.

“The most splendid building west of the Blue Ridge.”

Historian Samuel Kercheval

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