Mount Airy Plantation

Prior to the purchase by Col. William Tayloe, John Tayloe II's grandfather, the land on which Mount Airy stands was originally purchased by Colonel Moore Fauntleroy in 1651, to add to his existing plantation on the north shore of the Rappahannock River in old Rappahannock County.[7]

Jefferson Fry Map 1751

In 1682 Col. William Tayloe purchased 3,000 acres from Col. Moore Fauntleroy's son William, and built a 20-room brick dwelling called "The Old House."[7] William's son, Col. John Tayloe I inherited the house upon his father's death in 1710.

John Tayloe II painting by John Wollaston

The Tayloe family had owned the land around Mount Airy for over a century before Colonel John Tayloe II, a fourth-generation tobacco planter, began building a manor house with a commanding view of the Rappahannock River valley as well as westward towards the town of Tappahannock on a ridge above the broad bottomlands and marshes of the Rappahannock River. The project began around 1748 and finished in 1758. Tayloe used reference books of the day to incorporate then-modern and now-classical architectural themes. As discussed below, John Tayloe II also became a distinguished breeder of racehorses at this plantation. The original stable and a few outbuildings (including a smokehouse and dairy/ice-house) survive to this day.

Col. Tayloe's son-in-law Francis Lightfoot Lee, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived nearby, at Menokin a gift from JTII to his son-in-law and daughter on the occasion of their marriage.[8] Tayloe's daughter and her famous husband are buried in the Tayloe family cemetery, approximately 300 yards (270 m) from the manor house.[8]

John Tayloe II, who established the family's turf-racing business, imported Jenny Cameron, Jolly Roger and Childers to Virginia, three of the most important colonial racing imports. He also owned the winning racehorses Hero, Juniper, Single Peeper, Yorick, Traveller and Nonpareil.[9][10] The first noteworthy colonial horse race was won by Col. Tasker's 6 year old imported mare Selima at Annapolis, Maryland in May 1752. That December, Selima raced in Gloucester, Virginia and beat Col William Byrd's "Trial", as well as this Col. Tayloe's "Jenny Cameron" & "Childers" and Col. Thornton's "Unnamed". That sweepstakes, in four mile heats and with a purse of 500 pistoles, marks the beginning of the competition between Maryland and Virginia in horseracing. In April, 1766, Col. Tayloe's "Traveller" won with ease, beating Col Lewis Burwell III of Kingsmill Plantation's "John Dismal" and Francis Whiting's "Janus." In October Col. Tayloe's "Hero" won the purse, beating Col William Byrd's "Trial" & "Valiant," and Richard Henry Lee's "Mark Anthony." In November, at Chestertown, Maryland, a purse of 100 pistoles was run for by the two most celebrated horses of the era, Col. Tayloe's "Yorick" and Sam Galloway's (of Tulip Hill in Maryland) horse "Selim" (son of Selima). In May, 1767, Col. Tayloe won the "50 Pistoles Purse" near Annapolis as his horse "Traveller" outraced: "Trial" Bullen's, Benedict Calvert's "Regulus" and Dr. Hamilton's "Ranger". In the spring of 1769, Capt Littleberry Hardyman again won the purse with "Mark Anthony," beating John Tayloe's "Nonpareil" and Nathaniel Withoe's "Fanny Murray." In the fall of 1774, at Fredericksburg John Tayloe's "Single Peeper" won the "50 Pound Purse" beating Benjamin Grymes' "Miss Spot," Walker Taliaferro's "Valiant," Spotswood's "Fearnaught," Charles Jones' "Regulus," Procter's "Jenny Bottom," Robert Slaughter's "Ariel" and Peter Presley' Thornton's "Ariel."[10]

Painting by Gilbert Stuart on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The son of John Tayloe II also continued his father's horse racing legacy at Mount Airy importing Diomed who sired Sir Archie, arguably the most important thoroughbred racehorse of his era.[11] Upon completion of his townhouse, The Octagon he cofounded founded the Washington Jockey Club in the new federal city, Washington, D.C. (which became his winter residence). He also operated an ironworks and shipbuilding facility near Neabsco, Virginia, Neabsco Iron Works, led a company of dragoons into Pennsylvania to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion, and held various local political offices.

The son of John Tayloe III, took over Mount Airy in 1828. Its enslaved population continued to increase, even as depleted soil led to crop shortfalls and declining profits. He and his brothers responded in part by acquiring cotton fields in west-central or Black Belt region of Alabama. Between 1833 and 1862, William Henry Tayloe moved a total of 218 slaves (many teenagers) about 800 miles from Virginia to Alabama. Because the trans-Atlantic slave trade nominally closed because Britain ended slavery and because the U.S. Constitution's provisions against slave imports took effect in 1808, Virginia became a net exporter of enslaved people within the U.S. Although the U.S. had fewer than a million enslaved people as the 19th century began (mostly concentrated in the coastal and piedmont South), with the invention of the cotton gin and development of internal slave trading, there were four times as many enslaved people four decades later, working from Charleston to Texas.

A fire started by a maid in 1844 gutted the house and destroyed most of the woodwork of master carpenter William Buckland. It was rebuilt within its shell of brown sandstone with limestone quoins and using the original floor plan.[4]

Mount Airy was featured in a HGTV show based on the restoration work done to the West Wing of the manor house. The show, called American Rehab Virginia (née Colonial Rehab), was written by Mr. Emery and produced by Magnetic Productions and began airing in 2015, reruns can be found on HGTV and DIY Network.[12]

The inaugural Mount Airy Bluegrass Festival billed as "Bluegrass Under The Stars," was held in June 2017 and featured John Starling of The Seldom Scene, his son Jay Starling a member of the band Love Canon on dobro; with guitarist Jesse Harper (Love Canon), bassist Cameron Ralston (Spacebomb), cellist Nat Smith and Courtney Hartman (Della Mae) on vocals and guitar. Staged and produced by John Tayloe Emery Sr. and cousin Robert Tayloe Cook VII, it would turn out to be the Bluegrass Hall of Fame member John Starling's final show.[13] In its second year it was held on June 30, 2018, the lineup included The Seldom Scene, Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys, The Trailblazers w/ Ivy Phillips and special guests The Waterview Bluegrass Assembly. 2019 will be its third year and feature Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, Ralph Stanley II and the Clinch Mountain Boys, Junior Sisk and Ramblers Choice, Josh Grigsby and County Line, and Carolina Blue, on June 28 and 29. Hubs Peanuts has been a sponsor since the inaugural "Bluegrass Under the Stars," while both Alewerks Brewing, Williamsburg, VA, and Champion Brewing Co., Richmond & Charlottesville, have provided beer for the event.[14]

Mr. Emery has enhanced the property around the western boundary of the property on Catpoint Creek as a waterfowl destination, building new blinds and banking impoundments for flooding along the Atlantic Flyway the estate holds duck, geese, turkey, and whitetail hunts.[15]

The gracious Mrs. Catherine Emery has painstakingly reinvigorated the gardens around the Manor House, including converting a root cellar into a florist building. The operation is based on sustainability and produces a variety of blooms, herbs, woody ornamentals & cold season vegetables for weddings, events, flower bouquets, and floral design.[16]