The Fairfield Foundation will reopen the Rosewell Ruins and Visitor Center for the 2024 season on Friday and Saturday, March 29 and 30, from 10 am to 4 pm. Following closure on Easter Sunday, the historic site will open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm and on Sundays from 12 pm to 4 pm through October.
Since Rosewell came under Fairfield’s management and preservation umbrella last spring, the nonprofit archaeology and historic preservation organization’s top priorities have been listening to community ideas for interpretation and researching grant opportunities for critical funds to preserve the impressive structure. Built by English craftsmen and enslaved laborers in the 1720s and 1730s, Rosewell was the largest private dwelling in colonial Virginia with approximately 12,000 square feet, three floors over a high English basement, and 17 fireplaces. It stood as a symbol of early Virginians’ ambitions to mirror English gentry.
Three generations of the politically and socially prominent Page family lived there with the last male householder, John Page (1744-1808), serving as a Governor of Virginia. But the upkeep and management of the Rosewell estate was always a challenge. In 1916, a fire gutted the grand home, and its remains stand today as a testament to the dream and contradiction that is part of America's founding.
Community members suggested the importance of sharing stories at Rosewell that help visitors see beyond the bricks. Three cultures intersected on the site – Indigenous, European, and African – and the artifacts they left behind are important for visitors to see and understand. After the brick structure is stabilized, the educational organization plans to supplement the visitor experience with archaeology, brickmaking, and carpentry activities and to create interesting options for seeing the manor remains.
Admission to Rosewell is $8 for adults, $7 for active/retired military, and $6 for groups of 10 or more. Children 12 and under are free! Fairfield Foundation annual members receive two free visits. Generous donations for the stabilization project, estimated at $1 million, are greatly appreciated. Call 804-815-4467 or email fairfield@fairfieldfoundation.org with questions. There are also openings for volunteers to serve as docents and help with education programs.
The Courthouse Community Orchestra will offer a free concert on the lawn at Rosewell, (5113 Old Rosewell Lane, Gloucester) on Saturday evening, April 13, from 5 to 6:30 pm. Bring your lawn chairs, blankets, and picnic baskets to enjoy the evening. Donations to the orchestra and to support Fairfield’s programs are encouraged.
Fairfield Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization founded in 2000 to promote hands-on archaeology and historic preservation on Virginia’s Middle Peninsula and surrounding areas that involves the community in protecting, exploring, and sharing local history.
Phone: (717) 847-2034