Piney Grove at Southall's Plantation
Piney Grove at Southall's Plantation is a historic Virginia property whose rare log structure evolved from an agricultural building into a store, residence, and heritage attraction.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Piney Grove at Southall's Plantation is a historic property in Holdcroft, Charles City County, Virginia, on the high ground north of the James River. It is recognized for a rare surviving example of Tidewater Virginia log vernacular architecture and for the way an early agricultural structure was repeatedly adapted to changing uses. The property is associated with the Southall family, a prominent landholding family with several plantations in the region, and later with the Saunders, Harwood, Hughes, and Gordineer families. The earliest surviving part of the main building began as a small log corn crib, probably before 1790 or around 1800. It was enlarged into a roughly one-and-a-half-story log store around 1820. Additions made in the mid-nineteenth century and a two-story frame block added in the early twentieth century transformed the original agricultural building into a much larger domestic and commercial complex. The resulting structure is architecturally significant because the original log building remains embedded within later frame construction, including reused post-and-beam components. During the late eighteenth century, the surrounding plantation encompassed approximately 300 acres and was occupied by members of the Southall family and enslaved people documented in local tax and census-related records. Furneau Southall held local civic and military responsibilities during the colonial and Revolutionary eras and administered the first United States census locally in 1790. By 1857, a portion of the property had passed from John Seth Stubblefield, Furneau Southall's grandson, to Edmund Archer Saunders. Under Saunders, the enlarged building operated as a rural general-merchandise business known as Piney Grove Store. After the Civil War, Saunders relocated to Richmond and developed a successful wholesale grocery business while continuing to acquire substantial landholdings in Charles City County. Thomas Fletcher Harwood subsequently operated Piney Grove Store from 1874 to 1915. In 1905, he adapted and expanded the structure into a five-bedroom residence. The property also included the office of his son, physician Ashton Harwood, and a Harwood family cemetery enclosed by elaborate cast-iron fencing. The Hughes family owned Piney Grove from 1916 until 1984. The Gordineer family acquired the property in 1984 and undertook a five-year restoration. The restored site includes historic agricultural outbuildings, archaeological remains associated with the former physician's office, family furnishings, antiques, photographs, and relocated examples of folk architecture from Virginia and North Carolina. A guest accommodation is available in the historic Ladysmith house, and the property has functioned as a heritage-tourism destination with house tours, interpretation, and connections to regional travel and conservation programs. Piney Grove was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Its significance rests primarily on architectural survival, layered adaptation, association with regional plantation and agricultural history, and its role in interpreting everyday domestic and commercial life along the James River. It is not a conventional consumer brand or corporate enterprise; the dossier therefore treats it as a historic property and heritage destination rather than assigning unsupported corporate ownership or commercial-brand attributes.
History
Before English settlement, the area around the property formed part of the homeland of the Chickahominy people and lay near the Mattahunk village site and the route later known as Necotowance's Path. The documented plantation history begins with the Southall family, whose Charles City County holdings included Piney Grove and several other properties. In the late eighteenth century, Piney Grove occupied approximately 300 acres and served as one of the family's regional seats. The principal surviving structure began as a log agricultural building. Sources variously place its construction before 1790 or around 1800, when it functioned as a corn crib measuring approximately 20 by 22 feet. Around 1820, the building was enlarged into a log store. Mid-century additions, described in the available accounts as dating from 1851 or 1853, expanded the structure, and an early twentieth-century two-story section incorporated parts of those additions. The resulting building preserves an unusual sequence of alterations: a log agricultural core, a commercial phase, and later residential frame construction. Furneau Southall was an important local figure during the eighteenth century. He served as deputy sheriff under Otway Byrd, participated in the Charles City County Committee of Safety during the American Revolution, and held a captaincy in a county company under Benjamin Harrison V. In 1790 he administered the first United States census locally. Records from the period identify his household, children, enslaved residents, furnishings, books, and livestock, providing evidence of the social and economic system surrounding the plantation. Ownership remained within the Southall family until 1857, when John Seth Stubblefield sold part of the plantation to Edmund Archer Saunders. The transaction included the former corn crib and store. Under Saunders, the property developed into a rural general-merchandise operation called Piney Grove Store. Some framing in the expanded building may have been reused from the earlier plantation house, adding another layer to the property's architectural history. After the Civil War, Saunders moved to Richmond and became a successful wholesale grocer. He also acquired or controlled several major Charles City County properties, including Indian Fields, Weyanoke, and Upper Shirley. Thomas Fletcher Harwood operated Piney Grove Store from 1874 through 1915. In 1905, Harwood expanded and adapted the store into a five-bedroom dwelling. A physician's office operated on the grounds for his son, Dr. Ashton Harwood. The property also contains the Harwood children's cemetery, distinguished by cast-iron fencing attributed to Cincinnati Ironworks. The Hughes family owned Piney Grove from 1916 until 1984. The Gordineer family then purchased the property and carried out a five-year restoration beginning in 1984. The grounds retain or document a smokehouse, chicken house, pole sheds, former barns, and a dairy that no longer survives. Archaeological remains of the physician's office remain northwest of the large pole shed. The restoration and interpretation program also introduced family antiques and artifacts, including objects associated with a Canadian branch of the Gordineer family and descendants of Judge Edward Bowen of Quebec. The present cultural landscape includes several historic buildings moved from other locations to preserve them from demolition. These include Ashland, Dower Quarter, Ladysmith, Duck Church, the Pocahontas Tea House outhouse, and Peace Hill Smokehouse, along with a reproduction of the Lanexa Farmstand. The site combines original resources, archaeological remains, relocated folk buildings, collections, and landscape interpretation. Piney Grove was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. It is associated with heritage and travel programs including Virginia Civil War Trails, the Virginia Birding and Wildlife Trail, the Virginia Time Travelers Program, the Jamestown Discovery Trail, and the National Register's James River Plantations itinerary. Available reference material describes the grounds as open daily and house tours as available by appointment, with lodging offered in the Ladysmith house. Current visitor arrangements should be verified independently because no official website or current operating source is provided in the supplied material.
- 1985
Historic-register listing
[1]Piney Grove was added to both the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
- 1984
Gordineer family acquisition and restoration
[1]The Gordineer family acquired Piney Grove and began a restoration that continued for approximately five years.
- 1905
Store expanded into a residence
[1]The building was enlarged and adapted as a five-bedroom home, incorporating earlier additions and the older log core.
- 1874
Thomas Fletcher Harwood begins operating the store
[1]Harwood operated Piney Grove Store for more than four decades, linking the property to local commerce and the Harwood family.
- 1857
Property portion sold to Edmund Archer Saunders
[1]John Seth Stubblefield sold the portion containing the log structure to Edmund Archer Saunders, under whose ownership the business became known as Piney Grove Store.
- 1820
Corn crib adapted into a store
[1]The original log building was enlarged into a one-and-a-half-story log store, beginning the property's documented commercial phase.
Log agricultural structure constructed
[1]The earliest surviving portion of Piney Grove was built as a small log corn crib, probably before 1790 or around 1800.
Products and positioning
A privately maintained historic-property and heritage-tourism destination focused on Tidewater Virginia vernacular architecture, plantation history, agricultural history, and regional cultural landscapes.
Heritage tourism
Historic house tours
Guided interpretation of the main house, its embedded log corn-crib and store, later frame additions, furnishings, family artifacts, and the property's changing domestic and commercial uses. The supplied reference describes tours as available by appointment.
Hospitality
Ladysmith house lodging
Bed-and-breakfast accommodation in Ladysmith, a historic house moved to the property from Caroline County. It forms part of the site's broader preservation and heritage-tourism offering.
Historic-site interpretation
Folk-architecture collection
A collection of relocated historic and vernacular buildings assembled to preserve structures threatened with demolition. The collection includes Ashland, Dower Quarter, Ladysmith, Duck Church, the Pocahontas Tea House outhouse, Peace Hill Smokehouse, and a reproduction Lanexa Farmstand.
Sources1 sources
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