Located in the South Charles Town residential historic district, this lovely brick Federal was built in the late 1870s by John Alexander Porterfield. The half-acre lot was part of Charles Washington’s original Charles Town plat. The house was owned by the Porterfield family for over a hundred years and purchased by the current owners in 1988.
The Federal style house was built in three stages. The front portion, on three levels with two rooms and a hallway on each floor, was built in the 1870s, with the kitchen and dining room on the basement level. Two additions to the rear of the house were built in 1910 & 1930. An entry foyer with a gracious staircase leads to twin parlors, one now used as the formal living room and the other as a dining room. A cozy library with period furnishings is situated behind the living room.
The Porterfields’ rose gardens were an area attraction; the house was even equipped with a cistern in the basement especially for watering the roses. While the rose gardens no longer exist, the current gardens still contribute to the tradition of gracious hospitality begun over a century ago.
