Named for a large spring on the Gloucester County property, Roaring Springs is an old Virginia homestead that has evolved through enlargements and remodelings by its various owners. The western end began as a colonial-period, one-room cottage with a side passage, possibly as an overseer’s house for Church Hill, a Throckmorton family plantation. In 1794 it was sold to Francis Thornton, who expanded the house to its present form before 1802. Notable features of the enlargement are the stair with its beaded, diagonally set balusters, and the parlor fireplace wall with its fine paneling and arched openings. The stair and paneling are very similar to woodwork in Toddsbury, also in Gloucester County, suggesting common craftsmen. Roaring Springs was further remodeled in the mid-19th century when Greek Revival doors and window trim were installed.