17278 Lakemont Drive, Culpeper, VA 22701 - Culpeper County

Are you searching for a true "rus in urbe" in Northern Virginia? Even Martial would have approved of this perfect country retreat located just an hour from the Beltway. 17278 Lakemont Drive in Culpeper is a quaint, spacious Colonial brick home built in the 1800s and has just undergone a several-hundred-thousand-dollar renovation from joists to rooftop. Its 67 acres of quiet pastureland with a long gated gravel driveway that fronts the state road, two-acre stocked pond, and tall trees all around complete the offering as a unique refuge from the pace and grind of the city.

As you pull into the entrance, you are guided down the long driveway by stately rows of deciduous and evergreen trees. You come out into the open and the house is situated on the rise to your left, with total privacy from the neighborhoods around. The perfectly landscaped grounds and circular parking in front of the detached garage draw you in irresistibly. The matched pillars of the front porch have graceful elliptical arches joining them together and offering a shady place, you observe, for those rocking chairs you could never find a place for in your Arlington townhouse. Inside, the grand old staircase with crisply painted balusters frames the entrance and draws your gaze up to the second story. But on your right you can't help ducking into the library. The stunning brick lines of the fireplace and the built-in shelving will be just right for the quiet afternoon hours here. The Welcome Home pillow on the chair is a nice touch and you wonder if the seller will let it convey.

Walking across into the formal dining room, your mouth falls open. The crystal chandelier is nothing short of astonishing, and the grace and poise of the brick fireplace and mantel with its slate hearth and all the natural light streaming in on both sides is just right for that entertainment you've been thinking of getting around to. The details are well thought through and your mind is already placing the furniture you'd like to bring.

Reluctantly you go into the kitchen, but quickly find that it's just as exquisite. The smoky gray granite slabs are perfectly paired with the starch-white cabinets and the sacred triangle of stove-refrigerator-dishwasher has been well laid out. The LVP is a rich, luxurious deep silver stretching all around that you won't have to worry about if water gets spilled. It is spacious and tidy but not sprawling, and again the natural light bathes everything in sun. This is a space you could spend all morning in or grab a piece of toast on your way to the office, and either way it will enrich your life in the doing.

The sitting room continues the motif of 200-year-old brick and built-ins, and you start to notice the flooring. Hardwood like this would have been a sin to cover up, so youre thankful the builder was keeping short accounts with God. The rich patterns and history you see in it would be impossible to duplicate even with our modern technology. This is a house that's been around for a long time, and maybe it's the one that's perfect for you. The powder room is tasteful for guests and beside it you discover the washer and dryer in their nook. Thoughtful.

In the sunroom down the hall, you notice that all the windows have been replaced. The warm golden rays from the Culpeper County afternoon stream in among the easy chairs on the flagstones, and you wonder if they came from the Rapidan. With a split HVAC system and pleasing wall sconces and built-out window shelving for plants, this is a place where you could enjoy that mint julep with a friend for a few quiet hours. This house is growing on you.

Upstairs you make a right and discover a main bedroom as richly appointed in the same lavish country style as the rest of the home. The same elliptical arch you noticed over the front porch pillars is used to frame a unique built-in vanity with closet doors on either side. The matching light fixtures are oil-rubbed bronze and contribute to the atmosphere of understated luxury. Again the natural light and refinished floors complete the experience. The adjacent bathroom is crisp and welcoming, and you think of those Saatva towels still in your storage unit at home that would look great hanging there. You wander through the other three bedrooms on the second floor, marveling at the lines and framing of the adaptation of twenty-first century expectations to nineteenth-century architecture.

You end up out at the covered patio, enjoying that fresh breeze you could never get from your office suite in Silver Spring. It's just right for a book and a nap, but the tour calls you on, and you pull your car over the rise of the hill down to the pond. Two acres of water is more than you thought, and you carefully drive along the dam back around to the far side with the best fishing spot. Young trees are planted near the water and old ones are still reaching over to provide plenty of shade, and it's the perfect spot to think over this property. You know it has a conservation easement, so no development could be done here. But with 67 private acres it also has more space than you've known since you were running around as a kid on your grandparents farm in the Ozarks in the sixties, and it has a house with enough history and character to satisfy even the most discerning of buyers, and most importantly it offers something that perhaps has been in short supply in your life for quite awhile: Solitude.

You'd better call the seller and start discussing a deal. There's only one place like this, and right now is a great time for you to make that move you've been thinking about. You can almost hear Martials playful fauns awaking the quiet homestead with their idyllic melodies, in the rich lands of Cordova watered by placid Baetis, and you know it was a good call.