1 mi. NW of Leesburg off U.S. 15, Leesburg, Virginia. County/parish: Loudoun.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places February 18, 1975. NRIS 75002022.
6 contributing buildings.
Morven Park is a 1,000-acre historic estate and horse park in Leesburg, Virginia, United States. Located on the grounds are the Morven Park Mansion, the Winmill Carriage Museum, formal boxwood gardens, miles of hiking and riding trails, and athletic fields. The park is also home to the Museum of Hounds and Hunting of North America with displays of art, artifacts and memorabilia about the sport of foxhunting.
The Mansion, once the home of Thomas Swann, Jr., governor of Maryland after the Civil War and Westmoreland Davis, governor of Virginia during World War I, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Virginia Historic Landmark. The Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation operates Morven Park, which is a 501c3 nonprofit organization supported by contributions from donors.
The world-renowned Morven Park International Equestrian Center hosts Olympic equestrians and top-level riders from around the world who come to compete in Horse Trials, Dressage, Hunter/Jumper shows, Pony Club and Carriage Driving events. From 1980 until 2010, Morven Park was the site of the Morven Park Steeplechase Races, one of the most popular race meets in the country.
Complicating matters, another former plantation far to the south in Albemarle County, Virginia has been called "Morven Farms" since the early 19th century. It includes a plantation formerly called "Indian Camp" which William Short, whom Thomas Jefferson sometimes called his "adoptive son", had bought in 1796 and sold in 1813 to merchant David Higgenbotham, who consolidated it with adjacent properties and changed the name to "Morven Farm". In the early 20th century, like this property, it was an equestrian facility and stud farm, as well as added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and National Register of historic places. Philanthropist John Kluge donated it to the University of Virginia Foundation in 2001, and while half was sold, the remainder is now operated as a sustainability lab by the University of Virginia.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681530