Fair Oaks
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
The farmhouse in 2008 ((By Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))
![The farmhouse in 2008 ((By Jerrye & Roy Klotz, MD (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons))](https://storage.googleapis.com/clio-images/medium_25363.55667.jpg)
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
In 1804, Charles Fenton Mercer, a native of Bull Run, moved to Loudoun County after selling an inheritance of land he received in Bull Run from his father. Around 1810, Mercer quickly became a prominent member of the newly-incorporated town of Aldie, coming to own the Aldie Mill. John Moore and his family leased the mill from Mercer, and in 1835, the family actually purchased the mill and the miller’s house from Mercer in full, and moved himself and his family there. In 1839, Moore also bought a 57-acre plot of land, as well. Already owning land on Bull Run Mountain, John Moore continued to expand his family’s land holdings, and they quickly became a prominent family in Aldie, much as Mercer had before.
The Moore family continued to own and operate both Fair Oaks and the Aldie Mill for decades to come, serving the community of the village of Aldie well. When John died in 1879, his son Alexander Moore gained ownership of a good part of the land and constructed both farm buildings and a new residence on the farmland. His heirs would end up selling the property to the Gibson family in 1922, and the Gibsons owned the land until 2005, when they sold it to the Frank Foundation Child Assistance Program, who had plans to demolish part of the property and rebuild. However, the land was put under preservation management, and has remained untouched aside from a number of restorations. On February 5th, 2014, Fair Oaks was added to the National Register of Historic Places.