Ben Lomond Historic Site

Hours of Operation

Ben Lomond Historic Site is open for self-guided tours Friday-Monday from 10am-4pm with guided tours offered at 11am and 2pm. Grounds are open from dawn to dusk.

Ben Lomond Historic Site
10321 Sudley Manor Dr., Manassas, VA 20109
(703) 367-7872

Pricing

Tours: $5 per person, free for children under six. For Education Field Trips, the cost is $10 per student and accompanying adults are free (reservations required). Please visit our Education Field Trips page for more information regarding field trips and other educational programs.

Pricing varies for special programs, please view our calendar for a complete list of our special events. Donations to support historic preservation efforts in the County are gratefully accepted.

Accessibility

Virtual 360* Tour tablets are available that allow visitors with disabilities to be able to experience rooms and spaces with 360-degree views of varying images, videos, and narration of the rooms by Historic Preservation staff. Virtual 360* Tour tablets are available at no additional fee.

Foreign Language guides are available in French, Italian, German, Chinese Simplified, Spanish (Latin America) at no additional fee.

Ben Lomond and its outbuildings were constructed for Benjamin Tasker Chinn in 1832. Tour the house, which Confederate forces used as a hospital following the 1861 Battle of First Manassas and find the many signatures of Federal soldiers who occupied the property in 1862 on the walls. Here you can smell, touch, hear, and taste history in an immersive and kid-friendly environment. Then see the restored slave quarters, smokehouse, and dairy. Walk the grounds and visit the fragrant Rose Garden.

The History of Ben Lomond

Originally part of an extensive Northern Virginia land grant, the site of Ben Lomond was one of numerous plantations that Robert “Councillor” Carter III [pictured here] owned in Colonial Virginia. After Carter died, his large land-holdings were divided amongst his heirs. His grandson, Benjamin Tasker Chinn, inherited the site of Ben Lomond in 1830 and within two years had built the two story main house along with the dairy, smokehouse, and slave quarters. Chinn leased the property to the Pringle family prior to the Civil War. Both the Chinns and Pringles used their enslaved workforce to farm corn and wheat, as well as care for the nearly 500 Merino sheep that were part of the property.

Immediately after the Battle of First Manassas the house was converted into a Confederate hospital. For thirty-five days, wounded soldiers were crammed into the house with many more covering the grounds. Confederate troops camped near the house in the winter, requiring the house to be re-established as a hospital treating diseased men. After the Confederates evacuated the area in 1862, Federal soldiers ransacked the house, destroyed furniture, and littered the interior with graffiti.

After the Civil War, both the Chinns and Pringles struggled to rebuild. Eventually, the Chinns sold the property. A succession of various owners called Ben Lomond home, including Presley Marion Rixey, personal physician to presidents William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, and their families. Roosevelt frequently visited Rixey here.

In time for the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Ben Lomond was brought back to its Civil War appearance. When visiting Ben Lomond, visitors can experience the Civil War hospital and slave quarters through a variety of senses through virtual reality, sounds, smells, and sights.

Enslaved People at Ben Lomond

For nearly one hundred years, slavery was an integral part of operations at Ben Lomond. From 1771 to 1861, countless enslaved African Americans lived and worked here. The original slave quarter on site is one of only three buildings of its kind in the county and one of a handful in the region. Also on site are places where the enslaved community worked: the dairy and smokehouse. In 2007, archeologists discovered another enslaved workspace, the antebellum kitchen. A new virtual reality experience demonstrates the daily life of enslaved workers at Ben Lomond.

Old Rose Garden Rose Garden 2020.jpg

The rose garden behind the house contains one of the largest collections of antique roses in the DC Metro area. This garden is significantly larger and different than the garden that was present during the antebellum period. The Old Garden Roses and companion perennials you see here today originally belonged to Jim Syring, a long time County resident and rose collector. Upon his death, the garden was moved here in 1996 for the enjoyment of others.

The garden contains many cultivars of Old Garden Roses, many of which could have been here during the antebellum period. Many of the cultivars in the garden today have been in cultivation for centuries. The garden’s main season of bloom is in late spring; with some blooming throughout the summer and a second flush in the fall. Companion perennials, annuals, and bulbs ensure that the garden is in bloom all season.

Graffiti

After the Confederate army evacuated Manassas in the spring of 1862, Federal forces occupied the area, including Ben Lomond. Federal soldiers not only destroyed furniture in the house at that time, but also graffitied most of the interior of the house. In much of the house, the plaster walls are covered from floor to ceiling with graffiti. Today, most of the graffiti in the house is covered to protect the faded remnants, but sections are still visible, including the signature of Medal of Honor recipient, William Wallace Cranston. Ben Lomond is a member of the Northern Virginia Civil War Graffiti Trail, a collection of historic homes and buildings that have all been vandalized during the war.

Ben Lomond Timeline

1732 Robert “King” Carter patents 8,000 acres of Prince William County to Robert Carter II.

1745 Robert “Councillor” Carter inherits 65,000 acres in Virginia, 5,000 of which are in Prince William at Cancer Plantation.

1791 “Councillor” Carter submits his “Deed of Gift” to Northumberland District Court, which sets in motion the gradual emancipation of 452 of his slaves, making Carter the largest slave-owner to voluntarily free his slaves in American history. Sixteen of the emancipated people worked at Cancer Plantation.

1830 “Councillor” Carter’s grandson Benjamin Tasker Chinn inherits Cancer plantation and settles in Prince William County with 10 slaves.

1832 The main house, smokehouse, dairy, and slave quarters are built.

1836 Chinn marries Edmonia Randolph Carter who changes the plantation’s name to Ben Lomond, after her family’s ancestral home in Goochland County, Virginia.

1849 Chinn leases 1,800 acres to Horatio Andrus of New York.

1850 The Andrus family with the additional help of one slave and William Randall, William Hampshire, and Catherine Jackson, all hired out free blacks, grow corn and wheat and tend to 500 Merino sheep.

1851 Chinns move to Hazel Plain and lease Ben Lomond to Benjamin Thornton.

1852 Thornton leases Ben Lomond to the Pringle family.

1852 Pringles farm Ben Lomond, focusing on the 500 Merino sheep that are on the property.

They leased out local enslaved workers and hired out free blacks to help with the work.

1861 Main house is converted into the Pringle House Hospital treating wounded Confederate soldiers, after the Battle of First Manassas.

1862 Passing Union soldiers cover Ben Lomond with graffiti.

1865 The Civil War ends and the Pringles leave Ben Lomond.

1870 The Chinns trade Ben Lomond and move into a townhouse in Washington, D.C.

1901 John Rixey purchases the house, turning the grounds into a major dairy operation.

1910 Rear-Admiral Presley Marion Rixey, Surgeon General of the United States Navy, inherits the property. President Theodore Roosevelt visits the property many times.

1915 Frederich and Emma Bruch buy the property, spending thousands of dollars to create “one of the finest dairy and horse-breeding estates in the country.”

1927 Ben Lomond is divided and auctioned off to several different buyers.

1951 Robert Garner, Vice-President of the World Bank, purchases the property that consists of the main house and outbuildings.

1966 Garner sells 814 acres to the Weaver Brothers Corporation, who develop the land.

1981 Ben Lomond is gifted to Prince William County.

2011 Ben Lomond is rededicated and opened to the public as a historic house museum.

Volunteer Opportunities Abound

Are you a Civil War or garden enthusiast? If so, we have the job for you! We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help give tours and maintain this beautiful site. If you are interested in joining our team to protect the historic and natural resources of our community, please contact us or visit our volunteer page.

For more information, contact:

Ben Lomond Historic Site
10321 Sudley Manor Dr.
Manassas, VA 20109
(703) 367-7872
[email protected]

Please note that directions given to the Ben Lomond Historic Site using GPS are not always accurate. We recommend you use these directions to reach the site.

From Interstate 66:Take Exit 47A to VA 234/Business south onto Sudley Road. Travel .9 miles and turn left onto Sudley Manor Drive. Cross Garner Drive. Turn right onto second gravel road just beyond the Ben Lomond house.

From Interstate 495/Capital Beltway: Take Exit 49C to Interstate 66 West toward Vienna/Front Royal. Travel 17.9 miles. Follow above directions from Interstate 66.

From Interstate 95: Take Rt. 234 North (Exit 152B); travel 20.1 miles and make a right onto Sudley Manor Drive. Travel 2.4 miles, Ben Lomond Historic Site will be on your right.

For more information on historic resources in the Prince William County area, click here.