Just Outside DC
Sully Plantation Fairfax County Virginia
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Sully Plantation Historic Site in Virginia is a handsome home listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Luckily, the Sully Plantation Historic Site main house and outbuildings, situated near the outer boundaries of the Dulles Airport buffer zone,
were saved from demolition by enormous grass roots efforts, resulting in the transfer of ownership of Sully to the Fairfax County Park Authority.
Click here to view the 150 large digital images we have taken at Sully Plantation.
For personal use you can download our free photo images of Sully Plantation at this url.
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Sully Plantation is located in Fairfax County, Virginia on Route 28 (Sully Road) in Chantilly, Virginia.
Free parking and usage of parkland for walking and for picnics. There is a fee for the house tour.
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Formerly an early 18th century land grant of 3,000 acres, in 1958 private ownership of Sully ended with the
government's acquisition of land for the Dulles Airport site.
In total, 8,000 acres of Fairfax County and Loudoun
County farm lands were absorbed by the
Dulles Airport project. This resulted in the scheduled destruction of 300 homes and outbuildings including those from the antebellum
era.
Sully Plantation is located near Dulles Airport along side the fast-pace Route 28. Headed north from Route 66 (towards Dulles Airport)
you will cross over Route 50 then see the posted signs for the access road to the Air and Space Parkway. Once at the Air and Space Parkway, the Steven Udvar Hazy Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center is at the westward end of the parkway and the entrance drive into Sully Plantation is eastwards on the parkway.
The old entrance (at Route 28) into Sully Plantation was quite pretty with its patch of mature, dark green holly trees alongside
Sully's asphalted driveway. But the new entrance, on the Air and Space Parkway, is a lot safer then slowing down for a turn off within the rush of traffic along Route 28.
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A 7/10 mile asphalted roadway leads you from the Air and Space Parkway to the Sully Plantation's parking lot.
The photo faces towards the entrance into the parking lot. Just before the seen
curve there are two parking spaces for school bus size vehicles.
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This end of the parking lot is near the crushed shell pathway that leads towards the Sully house.
Note that the asphalted, narrower roadway is for the estate's maintenance vehicles. At this time the 12 picnic tables are still near the old driveway, about a 5 minute walk from
this shown parking lot. Staff stated it is in the plans to move the picnic tables and the gift/ticket shop closer to the new parking lot area.
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We selected to walk the even surface of the asphalted maintenance pathway instead of the uneven surface of the crushed oyster shell surfaced pathway. Both
pathways stayed near each other and curved, providing a nice view
of the main house and outbuildings.
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Before heading up to the main house we branched off and viewed the reconstructed slave quarters. Behind this small log house, weaved tree branches formed fenced in
gardens to protect planted vegetables.
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Our peek through the left window of the log house provided a good view of a rustic bed and the strout ladder to the second floor loft.
Photo below was taken through the gated doorway and provides a good viewing of the bare furnishings that might have been found used within a home of a slave family.
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Through very early in June the weather was in the low 90's and humid by late morning. Needing a cold drink we decided not to walk the Cain's
Branch trail. Instead
we walked the nicely treed crushed oyster shell pathway to the small log school house cabin now used as a gift shop.
Bathrooms and a soda machine are located below the log cabin that houses the gift shop.
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A bricked pathway leads to the bathroom and soda machine area. Behind that red door, there are two other doors for male and female bathrooms.
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There is a diaper changing table
in the ladies room, none in the mens room. Moving a stroller about in the ladies room can be done, but would be tight if others where using the two toilet stalls. I
felt it would be extremely hard to move a wheel chair about in the ladies room and I felt neither stall was set up for a handicapped person. I was told the mens room stall
was not wide enough for wheel chair access.
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Following the bricked pathway we headed towards Route 28 (you can hear the traffic), towards the picnic area and the old parking lot area. As mentioned above, this
picnic table area is about a 5-10 minute walk from the new parking area.
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This photo of the old parking lot was taken in winter time when it was still in use.
The dense line of pine trees seen in the photo delimits the outer boundary of the Dulles Airport property.
The numerous lanes
of northbound and southbound Route 28 (unseen in the photo) are located right in front of these miles of evergreen trees.
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If you need to sit a spell, Sully's bricked walkways offer inviting wood benches.
Sully Plantation is a wonderfully relaxing, quiet retreat. As can be seen in the photos, when we visited Sully early spring, snow still
blanketed the ground in shaded areas. Under the leafless trees the sun-drenched bench offered us a much needed moment's rest on that cold spring day
as we took in the gentle views of Sully.
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After sitting, enjoying the off-season peace of having no other visitors around, we visited the little log building with the sign 'Entrance and Tickets'.
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This log building, up on a slight knoll at the end of the parking lot, is used
as a gift shop. Though a brick walkway leads to the building, it would be difficult to approach or to
enter with a wheel chair or stroller.
Want to experience how it feels to be in a log cabin of rural 19th century Virginia?
Feel the dimensions of the schoolroom that could have easily
been used as a one room cabin for a frontier family? Duck your head and enter the gift shop.
This log building originally stood in Haymarket, Virginia but was moved to Sully
Plantation in 1963. Now well-cared for, seated upon a new stone foundation, this building's hewn log walls are chinked and plastered, and its 6-foot wide field-stone chimney
is an impressive reminder of the massive reconstruction effort. The upstairs
area of the cabin (inaccessible) was the living quarters for the school teacher.
This cute gift shop offers informative handouts regarding Sully Plantation and
an item sorely missing at many other day trip locations we have visited ... an
extensive publication covering the history and features of the attraction.
At just under $6.00, this 200-plus page book, written by Robert S. Gamble, covers outside events
affecting
the five families that owned Sully and the history of Sully itself from
the early 18th century years through Sully's
acquisition for the Dulles Airport Project.
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We appreciated the well-informed Fairfax County Parks staff members
whom we met at Sully Plantation's gift shop and the main house. The Sully main house tour starts at the beginning of the hour. Tickets are sold for the guided
tour at the gift shop. View
Sully's Event Calendar for special tours and the park usage rules.
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The Federal period main home, built in 1794, has a clapboard siding exterior.
The home's interior is furnished with Federal period furniture.
Unusual for homes of that time period, there is a covered walkway from the main house to the outside kitchen. At Sully the clapboard has been removed
from the walls of several of the outbuildings so that visitors can view the log construction. Most of the outbuildings
(kitchen, laundry, smokehouse, and
dairy) were built for the second owner, Richard Blane Lee, who inherited the property and expanded it into a profitable farm.
Representative of the 18th century period, other log buildings, a slave cabin, formal and kitchen gardens have been
constructed at Sully.
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The picnic area, along with the wide lawn areas and walking trails, offer a
welcome place to enjoy a break on a fair weather day. Food is not available on site except for sugar stick candies and canned soda from the machine. There are numerous
nearby fast food eateries (Click here or click map link below) can provide you the makings for a picnic meal. Trash cans are available about the property.
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In the above photo, to the right of the porch, at ground level there is an accessibility lift to aid mobility impaired people.
In the photo of the house above this
lift is about behind the barrel that sits near the tall tree at the right hand side porch edge.
Sully staff members stated normally someone is at hand to run this accessibility lift, but always best to call ahead to ensure no problems with lift or personnel being at hand.
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There is no elevator within the main house.
There are lots of stairs that quickly tired my knees but seating was readily at hand for a short break while we chatted about Sully with the tour guide.
Being it was a hot humid June day in the DC area, we greatly appreciated the air condition running within the Sully main house.
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The main house entrance is directly into a nicely wood scented long hallway.
Original wide plank flooring, high ceiling, lovely curved staircase, gentle sunlight coming in
aside strout wood doorways ... easily to imagine you are a guest within the manison home of a thriving 18th-19th century gentleman.
The tour guide explained how during summer days, it is thought that the family would open both of the large doors to the outside and
use the hallway as a
breezy airy way. As she spoke I thought of the home's ladies of the early years sitting there doing their hand sewing
as their kids romped within that inviting hallway. Prehaps from the nearby music room an accomplished guest or family member entertained those in the hallway.
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To the right of the first floor stairway an open doorway leads into the Sully Exhibit room.
Exhibited on the wall, a map of early United States was rather interesting to my husband who is from a small town in northern Pennsylvania. His home town hadn't been
established that early but the country seat was there and a few of the larger nearby towns.
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A nice aspect of visiting Sully Plantation's main house is that you walk through the rooms, not just peak in at a doorway.
The first floor contains the hallway with stairs to the second floor, the dining room with doorway out to the covered exterior walkway (which leads to the kitchen/laundry
building), the music room and two rooms within an additional that are now used for the exhibit room area.
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Throughout the main house I noticed the strong hinges on the interior doors.
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There are two nice size bedrooms and one smaller one in the second story level of the main house.
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The large, third floor room might have been used as a work area or for a schooling area for the family's children.
At present this large room is used during history camps and other special activities provided for kids. Prior registration required.
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After exiting the main house we walked around to view the reconstruction work being done on the main entrance door into the house.
Originally a horse carriage width driveway path led up to this area.
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Continuing our stroll we walked through the garden then along the nicely treed pathways.
We came upon a long board leaned upon a thick tree trunk, maybe an old style seesaw?
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Interested in seeing how close we were to Route 28 (see concrete barriers of Route 28 in the below photo) we walked over to the fenced in perimeter of Sully. Overhead
an incoming airplane approached Dulles Airport.
Now into the heat of early afternoon, we strolled the pathway, circling back to the new parking lot.
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Leaving the Sully Farm entrance/exit roadway you immediately enter onto the Air and Space Parkway. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center National Air and Space Museum
is at the western end of the Air and Space Parkway. The address for the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center National Air and Space Museum is 14390 Air and
Space Museum Parkway (Chantilly, Virginia).
Also, nearby is the Frying Pan Park and the Washington and Old Dominion Trail!
Click here to view a detailed map showing fast food eateries, pharmacy,
hospital, grocery stores, and most importantly, the other great nearby attractions to visit.
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Click here to view our
photos and comments for Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Air and Space Museum.
This museum is located near Dulles airport in Chantilly, Virginia.
Udvar Hazy is one of the most popular tourist sites. Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Air and Space Museum, housing large aircraft and
thousands of artifacts, is the companion museum to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall. |
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Want to do something neat tomorrow ... head out to Dulles Airport and stand a few arm's lengths from a Space Shuttle ... an Air France Concorde ...
a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird ... all housed within two huge aviation hangars.
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Walk among the floor
displays.
Use open-sided stairs, glass walled elevators, skywalks, and overhangs to get eye-level with the suspended aircraft.
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Directions to the Sully Plantation
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Free full size Wallpaper and Photos! Over 2,000 digital pictures that we have taken.
| Nature, Lovely Gardens, State and National Parks, Military, Mount Vernon,
Sully Plantation, Marine Corps National Museum, Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Center, many others, plus original background mosaics.
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Check out our other day trips at JustOutsideDC home page.
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