Oatlands

Leesburg, VA  20175

703 777-3174

Oatlands is one of the last of the string of great houses built by the descendants of Robert "King" Carter of Corotoman. It was built by George Carter, thirteenth of the seventeen children of King Carter's grandson, Councillor Robert Carter. Begun in 1804, it was originally designed in late Georgian style, and altered in 1827 in the new Federal style. George Carter laid out the terraced gardens, and designed the greenhouse and the forcing wall. George Carter died in 1846; his widow remained at Oatlands with their two sons and managed the plantation through the Civil War years. After the war, having lost their fortune and their slave labor, the Carters operated Oatlands as a summer boarding house, but this venture did not produce enough income to support the place. In 1897, Oatlands was sold to Stilson Hitchins, but he never lived there. He sold it in 1903 to Mr. and Mrs. William Corcoran Eustis, and they made it their summer home for a long lifetime. Between them, they brought Oatlands back to its former glory, enhancing and enlarging the garden while remaining faithful to its original design. After her death, Mrs. Eustis' daughters conveyed Oatlands to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1965. The north forcing wall and the boxwood edging on the lower terraces were restored by The Garden Club of Virginia to enhance the beautiful existing garden.