Jeremiah Moore once owned about 600 acres in an area now wedged between the Vienna/Fairfax Metro station and the town of Vienna. The Episcopal lay reader who became a Baptist preacher lived in the area in the late 18th century. He was known to such men as George Mason and Thomas Jefferson, and served for a time during the Revolutionary War. Sometime during all of this, he managed to build a house.
A few years ago, the house faced demolition, but the Friends of the Moorefield House were able to save it, sort of. Instead of demolition, the house was disassembled and its parts now sit in storage near Culpeper, said Jerry Duane, president of the friends group.
The group has been looking for a spot to put the house, and now thinks it may have found one in Moorefield Park. The location, Duane said, is part of what had been the Moore estate, and therefore putting the house on the original land enhances its historical value.
THE PARK, which is also home to the Vienna Dog Park, has an open area, just to the side of the parking lot which Duane said could accommodate the 25 foot by 35 foot footprint of the structure. "It looks like it would be more than sufficient," Duane said.
Duane’s group has petitioned the Vienna Town Council for permission to put the house there and the item is scheduled to be discussed by the Town Council during their June worksession.
Council approval would be just one hurdle that the friends groups would need to overcome. "We’ve never gone on a major fund-raising effort," Duane said. He estimates that rebuilding the house would cost $225,000-250,000 and take eight-12 months. The group also intends to raise funds for the operation and maintenance of the house. "It is not our intent to just dump it there," Duane said.
Also, the house is not entirely intact. He said the group is trying to purchase a similar structure in Southwest Virginia which he said was built around the same time period. This house would be used for parts to supplement what is in storage.
"What we envision is to reconstruct it to its original configuration and design," Duane said. "It would then, in effect, be a museum home of the middle class in the 1790s."
On top of all that, Duane’s group is facing a self-imposed deadline. "We would like to have all this done for 2007 Jamestown," Duane said.