Two fantastic books have been passed around in my office as of late. Both created by Real Estate men 50 years ago.  Bill Steven’s book Virginia House Tour and Roy Wheeler’s book Historic Virginia are amazing time machines of the commonwealth and many of the properties we see for sale today. Each publication gives a revealing look into what kind of men the creators were; Bill Stevens, historical and informative with a conservative approach never reveals an exact location of any property while Roy Wheeler’s flowery embellishments and ambitious coverage of the entire historic Virginia canvas is more robust but strangely offers less factual content.  It’s time for another one, as things have certainly changed.

A peak inside Roy Wheelers book shows that he listed prices and annual taxes with the properties featured.  Here’s one I liked. Fox Ridge farm on Ridge road, a coveted estate property of about 200 acres with a lovely manor home and several farm improvements.

Here it is listed in the mid to late 1950′s

This is a current view of the farm and it truly is one of the most dramatic views of a country property anywhere.