Originally part of the King George II land grant of 18,000 acres in the 1720’s, Castle Hill estate was established in 1764 on 1,500 of those acres. Dr. Thomas Walker and his wife, Mildred Meriwether Walker built a white clapboard home on the property. A respected surveyor and physician, some of Dr. Walker’s closest acquaintances included Peter Jefferson (Thomas Jefferson’s father), and George Washington (Mildred’s first cousin). Following the death of Peter Jefferson, Dr. Walker became Thomas Jefferson’s legal guardian and mentor.
In 1777, Dr. Walker brought scions of the Newton Pippin apples back to Albemarle County as he returned from the Battle of Brandywine in the service of General George Washington. First planted within the county at Castle Hill, this apple variety became known as the Albemarle Pippin, and was a major export crop for the area. By the end of the 18th century, the Albemarle Pippin was grown widely in Virginia by agriculturalists including George Washington, John Hartwell Cocke, and Thomas Jefferson.
During the Revolutionary War in 1781, Castle Hill was temporarily occupied by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his men who were on their way to capture Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislatures at Monticello. As the story goes, the Walkers distracted the British troops long enough for Jack Jouett to ride to Charlottesville and warn Thomas Jefferson and the General Assembly of the pending attack.
Dr. Walker and Mildred Meriwether had 12 children together at Castle Hill, and the estate stayed in the family until 1947, nearly 200 years after it was originally built. Notable residents included:
Judith Page Walker Rives, granddaughter of the Walkers, wrote of life at Castle Hill as fictitious “Avonmore” in her novel Home and the World (1857). In addition to studying law under Thomas Jefferson, Judith’s husband, William Cabell Rives authored The Life and Times of James Madison, a three-volume biography (1859, 1866, 1868).
Rives’ son, Colonel Alfred Landon Rives, served as chief engineer to Robert E. Lee during the American Civil War.
Daughter of Colonel Alfred Landon Rives, goddaughter of Robert E. Lee, and prominent romantic novelist Amélie Louise Rives Troubetzkoy was the next to inherit Castle Hill. Amelie authored at least three novels drawn from her life at Castle Hill: Virginia of Virginia (1888), The Quick or the Dead? (1888), and Barbara Derring (1893). By most accounts, Amelie’s work was considered risqué. On August 21, 1892 Amelie drew a nude self-portrait at Castle Hill, entitling it Sunday Muse. She was introduced to her (second) husband; artist, aristocrat, and Russian Prince; Pierre Troubetzkoy, by Oscar Wilde in 1894, and they married in 1896. On April 15, 1906, Amelie was featured in a NYT article, “A Week’s End with Amelie Rives: An intimate study of her home life at Castle Hill in a beautiful valley of Virginia.”
Amelie’s sister, Mr. Gertrude Rives Potts was recognized as the first woman Master of Foxhounds. While at Castle Hill, Gertrude imported and trained a pack of English Foxhounds, bred and schooled her own horses, organized a hunting staff, and enlisted the consent of neighboring landowners to form a suitable country for the “Castle Hill Hounds.” Castle Hill later became part of the Keswick Hunt Club district.
Today, Castle Hill Cider occupies 600 acres of the original estate, while the historic home and gardens occupy another 600. Castle Hill was named to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2008 and to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2013.
