Scotchtown

16120 Chiswell Lane

Beaverdam, VA  23015

804-227-3500

In 1717, Charles Chiswell took out a patent on 9,976 acres of land in what is now Hanover County. He probably built a small house which later became the nucleus of the larger house now known as Scotchtown. Archaeological evidence suggests that the house grew to its present size between 1732 and 1752 or ‘53 when the Chiswells moved to Williamsburg. It was also then that it got the name, “Scotch Town.” Scholars believe Patrick Henry bought the house in 1770, and invited his relatives, the Paynes (Dolley Madison’s family), for an extended stay. Henry lived there until 1776 with his first wife and six daughters. He remarried after the death of his wife, and having been elected the first governor of Virginia, moved to the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg. Scotchtown has belonged to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (APVA) since 1958. The only information about the 18th century landscape there was a quote from the German Baron Ludwig von Closen, who visited in 1782: “The grounds at Scotchtown are very pretty and there are little woods in the shade of which we took walks. The garden is an attractive sight. There are several pretty flower-beds although these are still rather neglected in this country.” The Garden Club of Virginia has reproduced this simple landscape enclosed by wood fences and sway-braced gates, appropriate to what was a rural and isolated house in the late eighteenth century. The grounds contain many trees and some boxwood presumed to be original to the early nineteenth century.