belle grove plantation

Exceptional views from the front porch as to what a historic landscape preserved is like. Reason entrance fee, good program, beautiful home-a piece of history.And after your tour go to Nana's Pub.

The tour, video and shops were very good. The NPS ranger battle presentations gave you perspective from this high ground. The Garden festival on the grounds was a really nice event.

This is well worth seeing if you are passing through or live in the area. Always nice to hear about our history here in Virginia.

My uncle lives down the road from here so its impossible to not see this place.Ive never actually been inside because everytime im up there, they are closed -.-but the House is big and well kept and so are the grounds.Ive heard lots of ghost stories too ! And they say you can even still see blood stains on the wooden floor from the war! I dont know if thats true though.

While I was visiting Cedar Creek National Military Park, I visited Belle Grove Plantation. This was the headquarters of several Generals of both the North and the South at different times during the Civil War in the Shenandoah Valley. The home is fully restored to the civil war period and is open to the public for tours. A beautiful home, it easily transports you to a time more than 150 years ago when the antebellum south was at its peak. If you are in the area, be sure to visit this unique manor house. It is well-worth the trip if you enjoy that period in history.

We were really in Middletown for the 150th anniversary reenactment of the Battle of Cedar Creek which was nothing short of incredibly great - a once in a lifetime event. The mansion was included in the admission price. It's a fair sized home, not particularly beautiful or interesting. Docents in each room tend to putter away with tedious information even for a history buff like myself. Too much 'dry' memorized minutae - the only interesting fact was that one of the union generals was brought to the house after being fatally wounded and was visited by George Custer. There are so many of these homes around the nation. I'm usually much more positive about them when I visit, but this place really left me cold. I did not see anything special about it outside or inside and couldn't wait to get back outside to watch the battle.

Bell Grove is a beautiful house in a lovely setting. For the 150th celebration there was a walk through of the house. We would have preferred an actual tour but when we went on Friday before the Cedar Creek celebration they were closed to the public for student tours. The grounds are well kept and there were demonstrations and talks going on for visitors.

As a history and architecture nerd, Belle Grove is a great place for people like myself to visit. The manor house, barns, and surrounding fields are gorgeous and a photographer's dream. I highly recommend visiting Belle Grove.

My husband and I toured Belle Grove Plantation on a Sunday afternoon. The house is very well preserved with historic furnishings. The tour of the house was very interesting. The location of the plantation is beautiful with the mountains in the background and cattle in the foreground. Great for photographs. There is also a charming museum shop. Worth a visit for those who love history and plantations.

The house and grounds are very nice. The tour guide was knowledgeable and had spent time in the house as a child. An excellent part of this nat'l park unit.

I was interested in this property as an example of the early contribution of the Germans to American (and to Virginia). The property and homesite was originally owned by Jost Hite (who anglicized his name Heydt) after immigrating with his wife and children to New York from a town near Heidelberg around 1709. It is believed he was indentured, and after working for his release he moved to Germantown (now a part of Philadelphia) where he became a successful landowner and built a gristmill. Not content with that, in 1731 he was drawn to the unexplored Shenandoah Valley, which at that time had been seen by few white men. This was a few years before the land was surveyed by a group that included the 16 year old George Washington. He eventually controlled 140,000 acres. Belle Grove was built by one of his grandsons, Major Issac Hite Jr, who was with Washington in the war and who became James Madison's brother-in-law.It was a rich and rewarding experience. I only wish there had been more information available to visitors on the biography of the Jost Hite.

This old planation home sits looking out at the beautiful mountains and valleys of northwestern Virginia. Not as famous as other homes such as Jefferson's and Washington's it has the quiet charm of a well to do but not politically active gentleman farmer whose connections to the politics of the time came from his wife, sister of James Madison. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with a volunteer guide who was knowledgeable and pleasant. Because the group was small, we were able to really savor the rooms and sense what it was like to live in the home was it was originally. The history of the family as it was influenced by the events of the post Revolutionary/pre-Civil War times gives one a true sense of the struggles of well-meaning people trying to "weather the storm." The day we went it was cold and windy so we couldn't enjoy what look like wonderful grounds so we will definitely return for one of the outdoor events. There is a nice gift shop. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to contemplate history and the hard decisions of those old planation owners in the face of the events leading up to and during the Civil War or someone just interested in loving old homes and wanting a day in the beautiful countryside.A thank you to guides who volunteer their time and learn the history of these places.

The tour guides are knowledgeable and friendly. The grounds are beautiful. It is well maintained and worth the visit.

I have been thru a number of old plantation houses and this is typical. We had a great tour guide that gave the history real well and made it enjoyable. Every old plantation has its story and its history. A lot of limestone was used in construction of this mansion. Its next to Cedar Creek Civil War Battlefield.

i used to love going there on field trips and the civil war reenactments as a kid. Now as an adult I love to go there for the beer and wine festivals. The tours are fun and the grounds are beautiful.