The Conservation Fund in Oak Hill received $2 million in funding from the state to acquire, preserve, and protect 86 acres of James Monroe’s Oak Hill estate. The land conservation funding for the National Historic Landmark is the most Virginia gave out for 28 projects awarded grants in fiscal year 2025.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced $14.4 million in Virginia Land Conservation Foundation funding on Wednesday. The grants went to historic preservation, farmland preservation, forest preservation, natural area protection, and open spaces and parks.
Oak Hill in Aldie is the one of the nation’s only privately owned early presidential homes. Monroe bought the property in 1794. He would build a country house there where he would draft the Monroe Doctrine and return to farm after his time in office.
Plans in the Works to Create a State Park
The land conservation funding would be a portion of the money needed for the estate. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors recently approved a $22 million grant to The Conservation Fund to buy the 1,240-acre tract that includes the estate. The property could, provided the Virginia General Assembly approves the funding, become the only Virginia state park to feature a presidential home, Loudoun Now reports. A feasibility study is underway to determine how much it would take to maintain and staff a new state park.
“The land will be open to the public for historical interpretation, walking, hiking, and wildlife watching. The Board of Historic Resources will hold an open-space easement on the property,” a news release from the governor said about Oak Hill.
The Virginia Outdoors Foundation received the other grant given in Loudoun County. It received $125,000 for a conservation easement that will protect 138.32 acres along Beaverdam Creek, a tributary of Goose Creek. The money will help preserve the viability of a farm that has structures eligible to be on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
“By making significant investments that not only protect natural resources, but also our historic resources, we are able to ensure that Virginians can benefit from visiting these special places,” said Virginia Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources Travis Voyles, in a statement. “When we increase public access opportunities, we allow Virginians and those visiting to experience all that the Commonwealth has to offer.”
Stafford County Projects Receive Funding
In addition to the two Loudoun County projects, three in Stafford County received land conservation funding.
The Patawomeck Indian Tribe of Virginia will receive $390,932 to buy 14.24 acres on the Rappahannock River, downriver from the Patawomeck community’s tribal center that’s across the river from Fredericksburg at Little Falls. The tribe plans to create a public access trail from McDuff Park to the property and a small boat loading area.
Farmland preservation funding of $254,000 will go to the William Long Farm for a conservation easement that will protect just over 69 acres. “The property falls within an Ecological Core and has predictive suitable habitat for Threatened and Endangered species and DWR Species of Greatest Conservation Need and is located within a wildlife biodiversity resilience corridor in DWR’s Wildlife Corridor Action Plan,” the news release said.
Another $153,000 will go toward acquiring 262 acres that are currently in 101 parcels near the Crow’s Nest Natural Area Preserve. The state Department of Conservation and Recreation, Stafford County, and the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust will use the money for natural area preservation. The plan for the most visited preserve in Virginia will be to expand it with new hiking trails and a new parking area.
Feature image of Oak Hill estate in 1969 by Jim Moody/Virginia Department of Historic Resources
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