Located on the James River a few miles southeast of Williamsburg, Carter’s Grove sits on 476 acres. Construction of the 18,700 square foot home started in 1738 and took fifteen years to complete.It was built by Carter Burwell, who died one year after moving in, a foreshadowing of what was to be a tumultuous history.Major changes ocurred to the home in 1879 with the addition of elaborate porches to the river and land sides of the house. In the early 1900s the dependences were joined  to the house and, shortly after that,  it began to fall into disrepair by absentee owners. It was saved by the McCrea family who , in 1928, made major changes to the dependencies, raised the roof seven feet and removed the porches.  It was purchased by Colonial Williamsburg in 1964. The first photo is from the  early 1900s, the third is undated, and the fifth is from the 1920s.

In 1976 evidence of a small settlement wiped out in the 1622 Massacre was discovered on the front lawn near the river. This settlement conflicted with Colonial Williamsburg’s emphasis on the 18th century, but they tried to accomodate with a partial reconstruction of the settlement’s fort (see first picture below). At the same time they reconstructed slave quarters from the 18th century and added an underground archaeology museum. The purpose was to showcase 400 years of occupation of the site, but it all  closed in 2003. Also that year, Carters Grove played the role of a South Carolina cotton plantation and military hospital in the movie Cold Mountain (second picture; click to enlarge).

In 2007  Carter’s Grove was sold, but the buyer defaulted and the home again suffered from neglect. Major repairs were done in 2014, and the property sold later that year to promising new owners.