A member of the famous McCormick family built this Victorian farmhouse in the mid 1800’s. John, a cousin to Cyrus, would accommodate potential European customers who would tour the nearby farm and equipment. Thus, in the European manor, each bedroom had a sink. Indoor plumbing made fashionable before modern plumbing was in most Virginia homes. John build this home for his wife Sally, who resided there for several years with him until he died. She then moved to Staunton to live with her father. They had no children, but the house remained in the family until the mid 1980's when it was sold at auction. When we were having some roof repairs made in 2005, one of the workers had left an old photograph in our door. On the back he wrote it was found in the attic ceiling along with an old pottery jug. The photograph was of a beautiful young woman who we believe is Sally. Her father was a minister in the Steele's Tavern Presbyterian Church and we found her pictured in a book there with her father. The portrait of Sally may be found in the formal parlor. Her spirit still lives within our walls.

 John owned the Raphine grain and feed store near the old B&O Railroad tracks that would service the  store. The store has since burned down.

A local man recalls his grandfather telling of the parties at the McCormick home with a long line of horse and carriages down on the road on any given Saturday evening. Can't you just hear the music and laughter sounding off the porch on a humid summer night.

To make water run inside the house in those days, a Cistern and gravity fed water system was utilized. Water was pumped from the cistern, which caught and stored rain water off the roof, up to the building in the back corner of the property. It was then gravity fed back to the house to allow for pressurized running water. It must have been a great invention in the early times of Virginia. An outhouse was situated behind the dairy building.