Hazelfield

Hazelfield was constructed in 1815 for Ann Stephen Dandridge Hunter. Ann Hunter was the only child and heir of Adam Stephen, Revolutionary War officer and founder of Martinsburg. When Ann Stephen married Alexander Spotswood Dandridge in 1780 her father presented the couple with a 600-acre estate called “Hazelfield.” Dandridge died a few years later and Ann Stephen Dandridge remarried to Colonel Moses Hunter in 1787. Ann and Moses Hunter had three children.

Her son, David Hunter, was killed in Canada during the War of 1812. The effects of her son’s death and disagreements with the leadership of Martinsburg caused Ann Hunter to move out of Martinsburg to the Hazelfield estate. With the help of her eldest daughter and son-in-law, Hunter constructed the house in 1815 and settled at Hazelfield. Hazelfield is a central block, 2.5-story home with a 1.5-story wing. The foundation is constructed of field stone, the main walls are field stone covered in an ochre-colored terra cotta stucco, and the central block is topped with a weatherboard gable. The interior layout is unique in that the entrance hall runs the width of the house along the front; this style is in other houses but Hazelfield’s is unusually large. At 11 feet wide the hall is almost like another room, rather than a hallway, and in the upper floor and attic the hall was divided to create additional small rooms. The home is small compared to others in the area, especially those built by prominent families, but it suited her needs.

Ann Stephen Dandridge Hunter lived at Hazelfield until her death in 1834. Her grandson, David Hunter Tucker, inherited the estate but never used the house. For a short period of time Tucker’s brother, Nathaniel Beverly Tucker, and his wife lived there after their marriage. Otherwise the house was empty. It stayed in the family until 1845 and then it was largely unrecorded. Sometime before 1973, William and Janet Adams purchased Hazelton and started to restore the house. At the time of their purchase the home had been abandoned for many years, but much of the original architecture and hardware was still in the house. The Adams owned the house when it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. They added some plumbing and electricity but kept most of the house in its original form. 

"National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form--Hazelfield." Accessed November 17, 2020. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/jefferson/76001938.pdf.