New Pic's of Aspen Grove






































Ya'all know about the place I grew up in Fairfax, VA. It is a 260-year-old home that was once a very nice estate with outbuildings but a nasty son-of-a-bitch contractor bought it and wanted to tear it down. It was saved from the wrecking ball by conservationists and historical society, but he was allowed to tear down the back boxwood maze, orchards, and outbuildings to build condos around it, leaving the mansion and the front boxwood maze intact.

Recently a dear friend in the blog world, "Rowan MacLeod" went there with her team and took pictures of the place. As you can see, the deer love to graze in the boxwood gardens. The house is looking very nice. When we lived there, it was a Confederate gray, but the pale yellow is rather nice too. I thought you'd get a kick out of seeing how it's doing nowadays. I still have a goal of getting there and doing a hunt. My father, mother, sister, brother, and our dear family friend have all passed on and each one vowed to haunt the place along with the Northern and Southern Civil War soldiers who died in it when it was a field hospital (for both sides at one time or another).

Rowan has started a paranormal team in Virginia that I will be keeping an eye on and expect to be a great connection in the home state. I will be doing a post in the near future on your team and her blog and online website, so stay tuned!

Comments

  1. Beautiful. Hate to see any of the grounds get uprooted, but at least something was saved.

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  2. Yeah, I wish they had an archeaologist on site when they tore the hell out of the land. It was so rich in relics that I got exhausted with the metal detector and finally told my mom "the cabinet is full, we don't need more relics." I'm sure they didn't. Last I heard, when the contractor was building the place, his family moved out--couldn't take it. He offered $500 bucks to anyone willing to spend a night in it on his crew--no takers. Jeez, easiest $500 I would have ever made. I always carry a fantasy of winning the lottery, buying the place and all the condos, tearing them down and putting it back together again. I'm a big fan of preservation.

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  3. WOW!! I never expected the post to be up this soon. It had been 30 years since I had been back there and almost did not find it for all of the crap that has been built up around it! I have to admit that I was dumbfounded and then I got really angry that they destroyed everything but the house and the front boxwood maze. What a tragedy! The up side is that the owners of the house are taking extraordinary care of it. I wish I could have gone inside to see how it looked as well. Hopefully that will come in time. It was a pleasure to see the deer grazing there. Thanks Autumn for sharing my photos!

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  4. Hey Rowan;
    Thank you a thousand times for new pic's. The owner sent me some a few years ago, but it was off season and everything was dead. It was nice to see it as lush as it looked. There used to be a creek, a huge pasture out front, an apple orchard, a huge grape arbor and a huge wisteria arbor, a boxwood maze out back, 2 slave cottages, a barn and stables. Such a loss. I definitely look forward to meeting you face-to-face in the future. I'm determined to hug all the bloggers eventually.

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  5. We had a lot of fun that night! Can't believe that condos were built on such historical grounds! Rowan had me research the area before we went. I didn't even know we had arrived because of the changes. She said thats it thats it! I said where? The deer and house are still there. At least somethings won't change .

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  6. Very nice of Rowan to get these for you. What a beautiful place. It is too bad that some of it had to be torn down but at least they were able to save the house. I hope you get to ghost hunt there one day.

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  7. Gidget;
    Thanks for sending me more pic's--you're a doll! I can't wait to meet you some time.

    Julie;
    Yeah, I seriously need to hunt that place--that's where all the questions happened for me and where my family is supposed to be waiting for their ghost hunter daughter/sister/friend to arrive and look for them. Gives me chills to think of it.

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  8. Autumnforest, I can only imagine what it must have been like to live there in that Historical place such as you have done.

    Even though it has taken on a whole new look, the original building still remains there. Only those who know, can appreciate all the History behind it. For me, I would just love to "snoop around" that place and be told what happened there and at what places. Would like going on a Ghost Tour in Gettysburg, which we already did years ago. Don't know if I could sleep there myself with all the ghostly activity going on that you have told us about. Would scare the crap out of me, and I know it!

    Nice Images of a place that has so much History behind it.

    Les

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  9. Well, then, Sha', 'tis high time that we sick this humongous infant robot on that malicious sumbitch contactor smeghead! Oh, here. After all, if Baby Boo there can defend the People's Republic of China … or, hey, mayhap we need to employ Dren there for the mission, whom, I'm sure, would like to eventually be a Mom, too. Ah, yes, love those stinger tails. I have no tolerance for so-call'd entrepreneurs who have little to zilch regard for our heritage, here or abroad. Vengeance much? Love this blogticle, my dove. Thank you ~ (•8-D

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  10. Hey Les;
    Yeah, it was a very unique upbringing and quite the zoo with reporters, psychics, archaeology students, art students...

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  11. Hey Big Bro;
    Yeah, let's sic `em on the contractor. If I did dark magic, he'd be my first choice. Glad you got to see the pic's big bro. Some day, I hope to contact the family and soldiers there on a super productive ghost hunt.

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  12. Or, hey sis', you can sick your egregore on the lousy schlemiel which, from my personal & far-spanning magical expertise & experience, doesn't have the same kinda karmic repercussions as would, oh, say, hiring a hit man. LOL! Love ya ~ (•8-D

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  13. Very, very, very cool. It looks absolutely beautiful there. Love the shot of the deer! But boo hiss on that mean ol' money grubbig contractor who tore some of it down to build condos! BLECH!

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  14. So, Big Bro;
    You want to join in an egregore with me? That was interesting, never heard of it. I do believe in collective powers. I'll tell you a story on MySpace when I answer your comment...

    Court;
    Yeah, let's find the douche bag and tear down his yard and build condos around his house!

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  15. I dug out my 1966 copy of Marguerite Dupont Lee's "Virginia Ghosts" and did not see your house in there, the only haunted homes in Fairfax County are Gunston Hall and Vauclose. This book was originally written - or the stories and legends in it were collected in - the 1920's-1930's, so maybe Aspen Grove's ghosts weren't heard of back then? Considering the book mentions over 100 old Virginia homes, I was hoping it would be in there.

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  16. Hey Jennifer;
    I think that book was probably written during the time the Sager's had the place. It's been lucky enough to stay under the radar as far as ghost hunting is concerned. In the 60s and 70s when we lived there, it saw a lot of mediums and in 68, NBC did a 2-hour special on the ghosts, lots of articles were written about it, but so far as being included in books, I don't think the owners have ever sought that kind of attention. My family was the one that uncovered the history and got it into the historical society and did the most as far as talking about the ghosts. Before us, there was a retired couple called the Clevelands living there and then the Sagers owned I believe for most of the time since the Civil War, a local family well known as owning most of that land back long ago. I haven't heard of it showing up in books, but I doubt anyone that's lived there would want that kind of attention. Of course, nowadays with ghosts being in again for the first time since the 70s, it's entirely possible they'd be open-minded to it. I know they talked a bit about the ghosts on the HGTV "Medical Mysteries" episode the house was on. I'm glad it hasn't been trampled over and over studied. I like to think my family members who vowed to haunt it are still wandering the halls there and I'd seriously like a chance to contact them as they knew I was a ghost hunter.

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  17. I took the wife to see the house that I spent so much time in while it was the "office" for the Historic Aspen Grove Townhomes that were built all around it. I almost laughed out loud when the real estate agent said in a hushed voice "They say there are ghosts here".
    I see these posts are over two years old, but I hope you get this and get in touch with me, Sharon.
    Rick

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  18. Rick--I'm at ghosthuntingtheories@gmail.com

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