James Monroe's Oak Hill estate has historic roots. Some hope to preserve it as a Virginia park

ALDIE, Va. (AP) — The room where President James Monroe crafted part of his famed doctrine exudes a quiet, stately atmosphere.
Inside the enclosed west porch a few footsteps away, a quarried-stone floor marked by fossilized dinosaur tracks glimmers in the sunlight. Just around the corner, a portico built by enslaved African Americans looks out over rolling foothills stretching into the misty northern Virginia horizon, a captivating view untarnished by monied property developments bellying up nearby.
It's an early morning at Oak Hill, where centuries of history are deeply rooted in Monroe's Loudoun County estate. It's the last home of a presidential Founding Father still in private hands, according to conservation experts.
That is, maybe, until now.
The DeLashmutt family, which has owned Oak Hill in the community of Aldie since 1948, hopes to convert its sprawling 1,240 acres (502 hectares) into a state park. A bill to that effect unanimously passed the House of Delegates last month but failed in the Senate.
The DeLashmutts, along with a nonprofit corporation, The Conservation Fund, hope Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will revive the multimillion-dollar project by including it in his proposed amendment to the budget bill ahead of the General Assembly's veto session. The governor has until Monday to submit his revisions.
'We've taken good care of it,' family matriarch Gayle DeLashmutt said, gazing up at trees in the garden during a recent tour of the grounds. 'And I think it's time to let somebody else do it.'
A long history of family ownership
The DeLashmutt family, which is unrelated to the Monroes, is part of a long line of Virginians who have lived in Oak Hill. Other Founding Fathers' homes in the state — Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, George Washington's Mount Vernon and Monroe's Highland estate — are owned by educational and historical institutions that open the estates' doors to the public.
The residence at Oak Hill has a complex heritage: At the top of a split staircase leading to the entrance sits a gifted bell from the decommissioned USS Oak Hill. Inside, elegant parlors feature fireplace mantelpieces made of decadent marble, a gift from Monroe's longtime friend, the Marquis de LaFayette, to thank first lady Elizabeth Kortright Monroe for saving his wife from the guillotine. On an interior windowpane, a young man with the last name of Fairfax, a family that previously owned the house, scratched his name and the date of his graduation from the Virginia Military Institute.
Gayle DeLashmutt's daughter, India DeLashmutt, grew up on the estate, charging about on go-carts and sledding down steep hills in the same place that Monroe hosted first lady Dolley Madison more than 100 years earlier. Her father used to tell her stories about finding arrowheads in Little River, a tributary that streams through the property.
'There's just this span of time, and this place can really represent it,' she said.
Histories of enslaved residents and Indigenous generations
The estate also embodies the histories of the enslaved African Americans who built and cared for the property.
There is George Williams, an enslaved carpenter who constructed the main house in Oak Hill, according to independent researcher Emily Stanfill. And Natus Berryman, who lived at Oak Hill before being forced to move to the South, said Lori Kimball, another researcher.
Opening the estate to the public full time would allow people to learn more about their stories, Kimball said.
Donna Bohanan, chair of the Black History Committee at a Loudon County genealogical library, said it would also educate the public about the Indigenous people and tenant farmers who lived on and worked the land.
'I advocate for not just focusing on the great men of history or military history because that leaves out a lot,' Bohanan said. 'By telling our more inclusive stories, we can start to see the connections between all of us as members of the human race.'
Uncertain commitment from Virginia
Loudoun County has allocated $22 million toward the roughly $52 million needed to support the project, while The Conservation Fund and other groups have raised another nearly $25 million. The family is selling the property for $20 million. The Conservation Fund says the state won't have to pay a dime toward the project.
The legislation for such an acquisition, backed by Democratic Del. Alfonso Lopez, passed unanimously in the Virginia House last month but stalled in the state Senate. During the final days of the session, Democratic Sen. L. Louise Lucas told reporters that she thought the bill was an excellent idea but expressed concern about long-term commitments from the state, even if it has no upfront financial obligation.
'That's a lot of park for somebody to take care of," she said. "Those are the kinds of things you have to consider when you're working on these budgets.'
Youngkin said Wednesday he was initially resistant to the project because he was not sure the business plan was fully fleshed out. But he said he felt less uneasy after touring the estate with Republican Del. Geary Higgins, whose district includes Oak Hill.
'We had a good visit, and I'm still trying to decide what we do,' Youngkin said. 'No promises, but I'm open-minded.'
___
Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Axios

11 minutes ago

• Axios

FTC approves Omnicom, IPG merger but says they can't coordinate to bar ads based on politics

The Federal Trade Commission on Monday said it will approve Omnicom Group's $13.5 billion acquisition of rival The Interpublic Group, but only if the agencies agree they won't bar ads based on politics. Why it matters: A consent order that addresses the possibility of political collusion is rare, and speaks to the hyper-political climate facing the business community. The merger between Omnicom and IPG will create the largest global ad agency holding group by revenue. The deal is still pending approval from regulators in the U.K. Zoom in: The proposed consent order imposes restrictions "that prevent Omnicom from engaging in collusion or coordination to direct advertising away from media publishers based on the publishers' political or ideological viewpoints." It also prohibits agencies from accepting requests to direct advertising spend to a certain media publisher "based on political or ideological viewpoints or political content." Agencies are also prohibited from declining to do business with an advertiser based on their political or ideological viewpoints. Between the lines: Advertisers are still allowed to dictate where their ads appear. Agencies will need to act with caution to avoid accusations of collusion or bias when considering an advertiser's targeting requests. Of note: Earlier this year, the Trump administration fired the FTC's two Democratic commissioners. The remaining three commissioners are all Republican. The consent order passed by a 2-0-1 commission vote, with commissioners Andrew N. Ferguson and Melissa Holyoak voting in favor of the measure, while commissioner Mark R. Meador recused himself. It's unusual for orders to be passed by two votes within the FTC, but it's valid. Yes, but: The consent order also contains fairly standard provisions barring anticompetitive coordination over conditions such as pricing, ad placement, and sponsorships, as well as helping execute advertisers' ad campaigns. Axios previously reported that despite concerns around politics, most of the FTC's inquiries into the merger with ad professionals were apolitical. Reality check: Regulators rarely put in place merger provisions that specifically bar this type of coordination, but political pressure around allegations of ad groups penalizing conservatives has gained steam. Last year, House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) sent letters to the CEOs of Omnicom and IPG as part of an antitrust investigation into whether ad agencies had colluded with the World Federation of Advertisers and the now defunct industry coalition Global Alliance for Responsible Media to boycott conservative media. Amid the chaos in Congress, the probe moved fully to the FTC, Axios reported last month. Jordan's investigation came months after he led a Congressional hearing about complaints that alleged GARM was colluding with ad-buying giant GroupM (now WPP Media) to discourage clients from buying ads in the Daily Wire because of its conservative politics. Last year, X sued the liberal watchdog group Media Matters for defamation, claiming one of its research reports contributed to an advertiser exodus. The FTC is now investigating the group over the same issue. What they're saying: "Websites and other publications that rely on advertising are critical to the flow of our nation's commerce and communication," Daniel Guarnera, director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, said in a statement. "Coordination among advertising agencies to suppress advertising spending on publications with disfavored political or ideological viewpoints threatens to distort not only competition between ad agencies, but also public discussion and debate."

San Francisco Chronicle​

16 minutes ago

• San Francisco Chronicle​

Europe scrambles to revive diplomacy after the US strikes Iran's nuclear sites

LONDON (AP) — European nations worked Monday to keep diplomatic efforts to curb the Israel-Iran war alive as the two countries traded strikes following the United States' weekend attack on Iran's nuclear program. Calls for Tehran to enter talks with Washington appeared to fall on deaf ears as it reached out to ally Russia for support. The crisis topped the agenda for European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, where diplomats agonized about the potential for Iranian retaliation to spark a wider war and global economic instability. 'The concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge,' said the bloc's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. Kallas said any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global shipping, would be 'extremely dangerous and not good for anybody.' Europe seeks more talks Along with the EU, the 'E3' of Britain, France and Germany have led efforts to find a diplomatic solution, holding a tense seven-hour meeting in Geneva on Friday with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. A day after those talks ended with a vague promise to "meet again in the future,' U.S. bombers struck three Iranian nuclear and military sites. No further E3 talks with Iran are currently planned, a European diplomatic official said on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations. Still, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Iran to meet the E3 again, and to open negotiations with the United States. Planned U.S.-Iran talks in Oman were scuttled after Israel began attacking Iran's nuclear facilities on June 13. Iran has since ruled out negotiating while it is under attack. 'Take the off-ramp, dial this thing down and negotiate with the United States immediately and seriously," said Lammy, who spoke to both Araghchi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Europe had a role to play, but that 'a real precondition for a settlement to the conflict is that Iran be ready to negotiate directly with the U.S.' Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels that he was proposing a meeting between the United States and Iran in Rome. Iran's envoy visits Russia It was Moscow that Iran reached out to Monday, though, sending Araghchi to meet President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Putin condemned the United States' 'unprovoked aggression' against Iran and said Russia would help the Iranian people. Putin said he saw the visit as a chance to explore 'how we can get out of today's situation.' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had offered to mediate. European diplomatic efforts were complicated by a lack of foreknowledge of the Trump administration's moves. Some countries had no advance notice of the strikes. Britain was notified, but only shortly before bombs fell. Another hurdle was Trump's post on social media late Sunday musing about the potential for 'regime change' in Iran, despite U.S. officials' insistence that Washington is not seeking to change the government in Tehran. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stressed Monday that 'we reject all attempts to organize a change of regime by force.' 'It would be illusory and dangerous to think that such a change can be provoked through force and bombs,' he said. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Trump and Israeli leaders have argued that Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon, making it an imminent threat. Mixed emotions among US allies The U.S. strikes have brought mixed emotions in European capitals. Amid alarm at the potential for a wider war and calls for de-escalation, some American allies expressed relief that Iran's nuclear program had been set back. 'We can't pretend that the prevention of Iran getting nuclear weapons isn't a good thing for this country. But we're prioritizing diplomacy as the way forward,' said Tom Wells, a spokesman for British leader Starmer. 'The prime minister's priority is getting parties back around the table to negotiate a lasting settlement.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose country is a particularly staunch ally of Israel, said he saw 'no reason to criticize what Israel began a week ago, and also no reason to criticize what America did last weekend.' He acknowledged 'it is not without risk, but leaving things the way they were was also not an option.' Merz said he was 'somewhat optimistic' that the conflict would not widen. He said Iran's response so far has been far short 'of what we had to fear,' and that Iran's regional proxies had shown 'relatively little' reaction so far. But he cautioned that 'it doesn't have to stay that way.' ___ Joyner reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Elise Morton in London, Lorne Cook and Sam McNeil in Brussels, John Leicester in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed.

Yahoo

17 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Iran launches missile attack on US base in Qatar

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran launched a missile attack Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites. Witnesses reported seeing missiles in the skies, followed by explosions, but it wasn't clear if there was any damage. Iran announced on state television that it attacked American forces stationed at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base. A caption on screen called it 'a mighty and successful response" to "America's aggression' as martial music played. The attack came shortly after Qatar closed its airspace as a precaution amid threats from Iran. Just before the explosions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X: 'We neither initiated the war nor seeking it. But we will not leave invasion to the great Iran without answer.' In the past, Iran has threatened American forces at Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of the U.S. military's Central Command. Qatar, across the Persian Gulf from Iran, maintains diplomatic relations with Iran and shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran. Earlier in the day, Israel expanded its war against Iran to include targets associated with the country's struggling theocracy, striking the gate of a Tehran prison notorious for holding political activists and hitting the headquarters of the military force that suppressed recent protests. As plumes of thick smoke rose over Tehran, Israel was attacked with yet another barrage of Iranian missiles and drones. The persistent fire has become a reality for civilians in both countries since Israel started the war to target Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program. On the 11th day of the conflict, Israel said it attacked 'regime targets and government repression bodies in the heart of Tehran,' but Israeli officials insisted they did not seek the overthrow of Iran's government, their archenemy since the country's 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Israeli military warned Iranians that it would continue to attack military sites around Tehran over 'the coming days' as its focuses has shifted to symbolic targets as well. The military issued the warning on the social platform X, though Iranians are struggling to access the outside world as an internet shutdown has crippled the country. The latest strikes unfolded only hours after President Donald Trump openly raised the possibility himself after just a day earlier inserting America into the war with its unprecedented stealth-bomber strike on three Iranian nuclear sites. 'If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???' he asked on his Truth Social website. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later described Trump as 'simply raising a question.' However, suggestions of overthrowing the Iranian government drew new anger from Tehran, which insists it will not negotiate at this time and is threatening to retaliate directly against either American troops or interests in a Mideast already inflamed by the still-raging Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Tehran strikes open new chapter of war In the Tehran strikes, Israel blew open a gate at Evin prison. Iranian state television shared black-and-white surveillance footage of the strike at the facility known for holding dual nationals and Westerners often used by Iran as bargaining chips in negotiations with the West. Evin also has specialized units for political prisoners run by the paramilitary, all-volunteer Revolutionary Guard, which answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The facility is the target of both U.S. and European Union sanctions. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Iran or significant damage, though the semiofficial Tasnim news agency said there had been a power cut reported outside of Tehran following the Israeli strikes. Iranian state television also aired footage it described as being shot inside Evin, with prisoners under control inside the facility. However, the Washington-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran expressed worry about the condition of prisoners there. 'Many families of current detainees have expressed deep concern about the safety and condition of their loved ones held inside the prison,' it said. Earlier Monday, Iranian Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the chief of joint staff of armed forces, warned Washington that its strikes had given Iranian forces a 'free hand ' to 'act against U.S. interests and its army.' Tens of thousands of American troops are based in the Middle East, many in locations within range of short-range Iranian missiles. The Israeli military also confirmed it struck roads around Iran's Fordo enrichment facility to obstruct access to the site. The underground site was one of those hit in Sunday's attack by the United States on three nuclear facilities. The Israeli military did not elaborate. 'The Iranian dictator will be punished with full force for attacking the Israeli home front,' Israel's Defense Ministry said. According to an Israeli official familiar with the government's strategy, Israel is targeting these sites to put pressure on the Iranian administration but is not actively seeking to topple it. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal government deliberations. Nuclear fears mount after US strikes In Vienna, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said he expected there to be heavy damage at the Fordo facility following Sunday's U.S. airstrike there with sophisticated bunker-buster bombs. With the strikes Sunday on Iranian nuclear sites, the United States inserted itself into Israel's war, prompting fears of a wider regional conflict. Iran said the U.S. had crossed 'a very big red line' with its risky gambit to strike the three sites with missiles and 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. Several Iranian officials, including Atomic Energy Organization of Iran spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi, have claimed Iran removed nuclear material from targeted sites ahead of time. Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the agency's board of governors Monday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi informed him on June 13 that Iran would 'adopt special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials.' 'I indicated that any transfer of nuclear material from a safeguarded facility to another location in Iran must be declared,' Grossi said, without saying whether Iran had responded. Iran presses on attacking Israel Iran described its Monday attack on Israel as a new wave of its 'Operation True Promise 3,' saying it was targeting the Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv, according to Iranian state television. Explosions were also heard in Jerusalem, possibly from air defense systems in action, and Israel's Magen David Adom emergency rescue service said there had been no reports of injuries. In Israel, at least 24 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in the war. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 950 people and wounded 3,450 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists. The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from Iranian unrest such as the protests surrounding the death of Masha Amini in 2022, said of those killed, it identified 380 civilians and 253 security force personnel. Calls for de-escalation The U.S. described its attack on the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities, as well as the Isfahan nuclear site, as a one-off to take out Iran's nuclear program, but Trump has warned of additional strikes if Tehran retaliates. Mousavi described the American attacks as violating Iran's sovereignty and being tantamount to invading the country, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Russia is one of Iran's closest allies and on Monday, President Vladimir Putin said after meeting in Moscow with Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, that they had explored 'how we can get out of today's situation.' Putin called the Israeli and American attacks on Iran an 'absolutely unprovoked aggression.' Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, previously agreed to limit its uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors access to its nuclear sites under a 2015 deal with the U.S., France, China, Russia, Britain and Germany in exchange for sanctions relief. But after Trump pulled the U.S. unilaterally out of the deal during his first term, Iran began enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90% — and restricting access to its nuclear facilities. ___ Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Josef Federman in Jerusalem, Elise Morton in London, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Ella Joyner in Brussels and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed to this report.