Named for the Quaker family who established the Clarke County farm in the 18th century, Farnley was developed into a prosperous plantation by the Hay family. William Hay, an attorney born in Scotland, and later a resident of Williamsburg and Richmond, purchased the property in 1808. He built a plain brick house which still stands, around 1815. James Hay, his son, married into the locally prominent Burwell family and built Farnley’s principal residence, a grand late-Federal mansion, begun ca. 1832. Dominating the surrounding pastoral landscape, the stuccoed dwelling is distinguished by its stately outline, bold interior woodwork, and an unusual wrap-around veranda on the rear. Attached to the house is a series of service structures. On a knoll nearby is a rare two-story stone slave quarters. One of the county’s numerous historic estates, Farnley is now a noted pony farm. The Farnley property contributes to the Greenway Rural Historic District.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia