Grand Old Homes Along The Beachfront
If you are thinking of buying a historic home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, you’ll be happy to know that most of the older homes here have not been razed to build something modern but instead have been lovingly restored. As a consequence, for our size and low density population, the Eastern Shore of Virginia boasts a substantial number of beautifully renovated and modernized Victorian era or older homes. And some spectacular historic real estate on the Eastern Shore of Virginia is for currently sale at very attractive prices. ( Check out our historic home listings on the web at www.blueheronva.com .)
Indeed, several of our little Northampton County towns, including Cape Charles, Virginia and Cheriton, Virginia, were actually founded around the late 1800’s and their architecture consists substantially of Victorian style homes along with Georgian Revival, America Four Square, etc..
The Amazing 17 Mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel
Now for a brief history lesson… Discovered in 1608, with English settlements dating from the 1620’s, the Eastern Shore of Virginia was, for a long time, geographically very isolated. Farming and seafood were the economic engines and remain important today. Travel to mainland Virginia was by boat trip across the Chesapeake Bay, a very substantial trip. ( Even today, most locals here say “I’m going across the Bay today” rather than “I’m going to Virginia Beach/etc. today”, a throw-back to the days before the construction of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel when traveling across the Bay by boat was lengthy and possibly arduous. If a sudden storm were to come up “going across the Bay” back then was a pretty big deal. Now , with the truly amazing 17 mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge, ( www.cbbt.com ) this previously difficult journey has been reduced to a scenic 15 minute car ride. ) Families tended to stay on the Shore and on the farm because, back in the day, farming and seafood here were both very, very lucrative. Beautiful homes were built, both in-town and out on the farms and these homes were passed down through the generations. Today, neither farming nor seafood is quite so appealing and some farms and and a number of lovely historic homes in our towns have been purchased by people moving here from out of the area, as my family and I did, to enjoy the Eastern Shore’s relaxed, coastal way of life. The point of this being that homes that have been torn down in other areas to build new developments have generally been renovated and restored here, enabling the Eastern Shore of Virginia to retain a certain romance, a true sense of yesteryear that many other rural areas have already lost.( www.esvatourism.org/history.asp )
5 Bedroom, 5 & 1/2 Bath, 3000 Square Foot Historic Craftsman Cottage Style Home
Two very different examples of historic homes for sale on Virginia’s Eastern Shore include a beautiful in-town Craftsman cottage style home built in 1913 and an amazing waterfront historic home, situated on five acres in the country, the earliest section of which was built in the late 1600’s. The Craftsman cottage style home (www.antiquehomestyle.com ) , has been meticulously restored, with over 3000 square feet, featuring five bedrooms and five and a half baths, located only about 500 feet from the wide sandy beach in the quaint coastal town of Cape Charles, Virginia with amenities like beach, golf and marinas. Shown on HGTV’s “If Walls Could Talk” , it’s currently serving as a very successful B&B. However, its open, airy floor plan and modern conveniences will make it a wonderful personal residence, offering great entertaining spaces. Friends and relatives— come on down ! All the “must have” historic treatments are here — ten foot ceilings, raised panel doors, wainscoating, columned room dividers, moldings, etc. Walk to the beach in 30 seconds, enjoy water views and dazzling sunsets from the huge front porch. Golf carts are “street legal” in Cape Charles so you can “go-green” and zip over to the Cape Charles Coffee House, etc. for lunch in your electric cart. Offered at $585,000, this fine home can be a wonderful personal residence or kept as a B&B, the perfect opportunity to have a home business.
On the other end of the spectrum is the nearly 4000 sq. ft. “Wellington House”, located on the water in the country about 20 minutes from Cape Charles. Situated on a colorful, deep saltwater inlet from the Chesapeake Bay, this amazing four bedroom, three bath home with an existing backyard dock is a rare opportunity to marry a love of historic homes with a love of boating. An absolute gem, built of brick, Flemish bond style, this home’s earliest section dates back to the late 1600’s . When you enter the original quarter kitchen with its huge hearth and beams, used now as a sitting room, it’s like going back in time to the Colonial days. High ceilings, additional fireplaces and wide plank floors throughout lend this special home an authenticity and ambience that few historic homes can rival. Add to that its amazing waterviews, backyard pier for a boat and the seclusion offered by its five acre size and it totals one terrific historic home, all this offered at the attractive price of $1,495,000.
We’ll have more posts soon about the opportunites to purchase historic real estate on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. In the meantime, some of our unique historic home for sale listings can be viewed at www.blueheronva.com with prices starting at $199,000 to over $3,500,000 for a home on 100+ acres.