Brilliantly sited in Fauquier County’s beautiful Crooked Run Valley Rural Historic District, the distinctive Greek Revival villa of Ashleigh was the home of Margaret Marshall, granddaughter of Chief Justice John Marshall. She received a portion of the family’s Oak Hill estate and had this house built ca. 1840. Tradition has it that she designed Ashleigh herself after obtaining ideas during a trip through the Deep South. The tradition is plausible as the design is not typical of Virginia and resembles the raised one-story antebellum dwellings of Alabama and Mississippi. The house was constructed by William S. Sutton, who erected many houses in the area. The property remained the home of Margaret Marshall and her husband John Thomas until 1860 when it was sold to a relative. Ashleigh has since passed through several owners, but has always been maintained as a prestigious estate.