Historic Gardens of Virginia 



a time the remodeling of the Farmington house. Mr. Divers was 

 away from home at the time. He died soon after his return and 

 the house fell to his heirs in an unfinished state and remained so 

 until 1852. 



Upon the death of George Divers, the large estate was divided 

 among his many relatives, and Farmington fell to Isaac White, 

 who held it until 1842. The next owner was John C. Carter, who 

 lived there until 1852, when it became the property of General 

 Bernard Peyton. 



Neither White nor Carter ever finished the house, which had 

 been begun by Mr. Divers nearly fifty years before, but General 

 Peyton, who is said to have spent thirty thousand dollars upon it, 

 did much towards its completion. The last addition, however, was 

 made in 1897, after Farmington came into the possession of 

 Warner Wood. 



The house had remained unfinished so long that it became a 

 common superstition among the negroes that whoever finished it 

 would die when the task was done. Strange to say, this super- 

 stition was fulfilled. The very day the finishing touches were put 

 on. General Peyton, who had done so much to beautify and preserve 

 the estate, though apparently well a few hours before, died that 

 night. 



In 1860-61, Joseph Miller, a wealthy and distinguished British 

 marine engineer, came to this country for his health, and bought 

 Farmington from the widow of General Peyton, in February, 1861. 

 Being a man of great cultivation and a lover of art, Mr. Miller 

 brought all of his furniture, silver, china, and many of the paint- 

 ings from Europe with him; these still adorn the old house and 

 charm the visitor who is fortunate enough to enter its portals. 

 Merely to enumerate them would fill a space larger than is allotted 

 to this little sketch. The house and a large part of the estate was 

 next inherited by Joseph Miller's sister, Mrs. Mary Anne Harper, 

 then a widow with two small children, Warner and Lucilla Woods, 

 by a former marriage. 



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