Elmwood

While visiting Sweet Springs the other month, I was able to stay at Elmwood in Union, WV, which I had previously visited as part of my thesis research.

Although known as the Hugh Caperton house, Elmwood was actually built as a wedding present for Caperton's wife who had visited Birdwood in Charlottesville, VA, and wanted a copy of it. The two houses really are twins too. Attributed to Thomas Blackburn who worked under Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and the University of Virginia, it is an expertly constructed home that was designed in a liminal style between Neoclassical and Greek Revival.

Three stories tall, its piano nobile sits above an English basement with four rooms split by a central passage on each level. I found an old book once about a man's travels that took him through Union and he made note of Elmwood describing it as a truly exceptional residence. Although copied from Birdwood, Elmwood's location is better placed with a commanding view of rich farmland between the greenest mountains. And, this goodness really does flavor the produce grown there. Its owners invited me to pick some tomatoes from their vegetable garden and they were the most delicious ones I have ever eaten.