Hill Mansion C.1853
The Hill Mansion is a sophisticated example of the Italianate style, one of several picturesque modes popular in the 1850s. The house was completed in 1857 for Edward Baptist Hill, member of a prominent Culpeper family. The front is sheltered by an arcaded veranda, a device advocated for southern houses in this period. Other noteworthy features are the scored stucco, the elaborate porches of both cast-iron and wood, as well as interior appointments that include a broad curving stair. The house served as a Confederate hospital and was visited both by Lieutenant General A. P. Hill, a brother of the builder, and General Robert E. Lee, whose wounded son, Brigadier General W. H. F. (“Rooney”) Lee, recuperated here following the Battle of Brandy Station. Later in the war it was used as headquarters for Union officers who permitted the Hill family to occupy two rooms. Mrs. A.P. Hill and her four daughters lived here frequently during the Civil War.