Traveller's Rest

Traveller's Rest, also known as the General Horatio Gates Home, is a historic plantation house located on Bowers Road near Kearneysville in Jefferson County, West Virginia, United States. The main house is a 1½-story stone structure set well back on the north side of Bowers Road, on a rural property of more than 200 acres. The eastern section was built by the Hyatt family in a side hall plan, and the western section was added a few years later, in 1773, by Horatio Gates. The eastern section is a 1½-story structure over a full basement with a gable roof, measuring about 34 feet wide and 30 feet deep; the western section is also 1½ stories with a full basement and measures about 16 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The elevation is seven bays wide. The house is closely associated with Horatio Gates, a native of England who served in the British Army during the French and Indian War. Gates and his family sailed from England to Virginia in 1772 and bought 659 acres on the Potomac River near Shepherdstown in what is now West Virginia. He built this limestone house and became a slave owner, a local justice, and a lieutenant colonel in the militia. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Gates helped organize the Continental Army and became one of its more controversial generals, gaining the important victory at Saratoga in 1777 and suffering a humiliating loss at Camden in 1780. After the war, Gates returned to Traveller's Rest. In 1790, he sold the home, freed his slaves, and moved to New York City. Gates employed John Ariss for interior woodwork at a time when Ariss was working on nearby projects for the Washington family. Gates added to the original four-bay structure ashlar masonry, appending a three-bay random rubble stone extension. The dormers were added after Gates's tenure. The only major documented alteration to the house after the period of Gates ownership is the addition of dormers to the gabled roof. The house is very little altered from that period and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972. It is located on private property and is not normally open to the public.

Traveller's Rest is a historic plantation house near Kearneysville, West Virginia, built in 1773 and enlarged a few years later. The eastern section was built by the Hyatt family in a side hall plan, with the western section added by Horatio Gates a few years later in 1773. The eastern section is a 1½-story structure over a full basement, with a gable roof, measuring about 34 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The western section is also a 1½-story structure with a full basement and measures about 16 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The elevation is seven bays wide. Horatio Gates, a native of England, served in the British Army during the French and Indian War, but was prevented from advancement after the war by a lack of money or political connection. Gates and his family sailed from England to Virginia in 1772 and bought 659 acres on the Potomac River near Shepherdstown in what is now West Virginia. He built this limestone house and became a slave owner, a local justice, and a lieutenant colonel in the militia. When the American Revolutionary War broke out, Gates helped organize the Continental Army, and went on to become one of its more controversial generals, gaining the important victory at Saratoga in 1777 and a humiliating loss at Camden in 1780. After the war, Gates returned to Traveller's Rest. In 1790, he sold the home, freed his slaves and moved to New York City. Gates employed John Ariss for interior woodwork, at a time when Ariss was working on nearby projects for the Washington family. Gates added to the original four-bay structure ashlar masonry, appending a three-bay random rubble stone extension. The dormers were added after Gates's tenure. The only major documented alteration to the house after the period of Gates ownership is the addition of dormers to the gabled roof. The house is very little altered from that period, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972. It is located on private property and is not normally open to the public.

• 1972

  The house was designated a National Historic Landmark.

• 1790

  Gates sold the home, freed his slaves, and moved to New York City.

• 1773

  The eastern section of the house was built by the Hyatt family; the western section was added by Horatio Gates.

• 1772

  Horatio Gates and his family sailed from England to Virginia and bought 659 acres on the Potomac River near Shepherdstown.

1. 1Traveller's Restwikidata.org
2. 2Traveller's Rest (Kearneysville, West Virginia)en.wikipedia.org