Ben Lomond
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
A view of the home in 2007 ((By Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))
![A view of the home in 2007 ((By Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_25381.55685.jpg)
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
In 1837, Benjamin Tasker Chinn, the grandson of Councilor Robert Carter of the prominent Carter family, built Ben Lomond as a stone plantation mansion for himself and his wife, Edmonia Carter. The name of the mansion itself comes from a mountain in Scotland which overlooks Loch Lomond. Chinn also constructed several farm buildings on the property as well, including slave quarters and an additional cottage. During the American Civil War, the plantation was partially converted by the Chinns into a hospital for wounded soldiers. Chinn and his wife lived on the land for some time, but ended up trading the property in 1870 for land in Washingotn, DC, to William Campbell.
Numerous others would come to own Ben Lomond in the following years, such as John Rixey, who at the turn of the century converted much of the property into a dairy farm operation. A large barn was built in 1926 by then-owner F. W. Bruch, who then sold it again in 1927. The home would change hands several more times before it was bought by Robert Garner in 1951. Garner, admiring of the property, initiated a large-scale restoration project for the house, and subsequently sold the property again in 1966. On May 20th, 1980, it was designated on the Virginia Landmark Register, and on July 30th, 1980, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Today, Ben Lomond Plantation is owned by Prince William County, which currently operates the property as a Civil War house museum.