he Meadows is the historical name of a tract of rich red-clay farmland that was part of a 1750 Crown Grant given to the first sheriff of Fauquier County. The oldest structure was a simple two-room clapboard dwelling built in the 1780s. In 1846, this was expanded by a stone extension. Over the next decades that agglomeration figured busily as a boarding house for cadets from neighboring Bethel Academy. Following a local practice devised to protect property during the Civil War, The Meadows served as a recuperation home for injured soldiers from both sides of the conflict. Over the following decades, hundreds of acres from the original grant were partitioned and sold by the recipient Blackwell family descendents. By 1970, their old homestead had fallen into disrepair. At that time new owners began the first phase of remodeling, making the house livable through extensive renovation and a further addition.

When Marion Poynter purchased the property in 1984, the total acreage remaining had shrunk to just over 40. The Meadows was a hobby cattle farm at the time and the next major renovation needed before it was suitable for horses was to the farmland itself. Earth was rearranged, pastures were reseeded, board fencing was installed and the stable was built. As a grace note, extensive landscaping was also undertaken, including the planting of hundreds of thousands of daffodil bulbs that make for a display each spring worthy of Wordsworth. The look of The Meadows was significantly altered in many areas but physical reminders of its rich history remain. The old stone wall and the locust-lined lane are much the same, as is a round stone smokehouse that was never used.

In the course of clearing the grounds, a honeysuckle-choked cemetery was uncovered. It was fenced and given the ubiquitous daffodil treatment. The graves of Blackwell family heroes of the American Revolution and Civil War were rediscovered and the plot has become a regular stop on the local antiquarians’ yearly pilgrimages through the area. One other remnant of the past remains. Some visitors who have stayed in the guest cottage swear they have sensed the presence of the resident Meadows ghost of local legend.