Effingham

Effingham is a 687-acre cattle farm near Aden in southern Prince William County, with an eighteenth-century plantation house at its center. The two-story, five-bay frame dwelling stands on a raised Flemish bond brick basement. Brick double chimneys with pent closets mark each end, and the interior has a central hall with molded entablatures over the doors and enclosed staircases. William Alexander, a Prince William County Committee of Safety member, militia lieutenant colonel and county justice, built it after buying the land in 1777, though family tradition gives 1765. The property shares design features with the nearby Pilgrim's Rest. A brown sandstone blacksmith shop, smokehouse, well house and former slaves' quarters survive, along with a three-level terraced garden reputed to be among the earliest in Virginia. The district counts four contributing buildings and one contributing structure, plus four noncontributing buildings and a swimming pool. It was recognized for its architecture and its link to Alexander.