The plain but dignified brick house at La Vue was constructed in 1848 for John F. Alsop on family property in Spotsylvania County. The date is confirmed by a substantial increase in taxes that year for a new building. The house was placed on the edge of a steep hill to take advantage of views of level fields. This scene was not altogether placid since the lines of the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad had been laid at the foot of the hill in 1837. Alsop’s growing family necessitated a two-story ell in the 1850s. Little changed since then, the dwelling’s clean lines and hipped roof reflect the conservative taste of the local antebellum gentry. Contrasting with the exterior simplicity of La Vue are richly colored stenciled decorations on the interior. Such painted embellishments were not unusual for the period but they rarely survive.