Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 02/15/1977
NRHP Listing Date 01/20/1978
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 78003016
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, located in the Fauquier County seat of Warrenton, in the 1870s to James Keith, president of the Virginia Court of Appeals. In 1875 it was purchased by John Singleton Mosby, the Confederate ranger, who with his partisans outwitted the Union army during the Civil 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 contributes to the Warrenton Historic District.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: January 25, 2022
