Bear's Den Rural Historic District

On a bluff of the Blue Ridge Mountains overlooking the Shenandoah Valley, Maral S. Kalbian found herself thinking about the past.

“People have obviously been enjoying this view. Whether it’s from Bear’s Den Rocks or the front porch of this house, they’ve been enjoying this for well over 100 years,” she said this week.

Kalbian, a Berryville-based architectural historian, was visiting a property on Raven Rocks Road, where a stone house called Joannasberg was built in 1897.

The house is one of a collection of late 19th and early 20th century dwellings in the newly created Bear’s Den Rural Historic District, an honorary historic district that encompasses 66 properties and about 1,855 acres along the spine of the mountains. ...more...

Village Montessori School at Bluemont

When Michael and Toby Gress moved to Bluemont, they were drawn by the lush beauty of the landscape and the wonderful sense of community they found in this quiet little village in western Loudoun County.  They moved into a home right next to the community center, with nine acres of rolling hills and a fabulous pond, and found themselves very much at home.

This rural setting with its plants, flowers and wildlife were the perfect place for Toby’s dream of a Montessori school where the children could really connect with the wonder of the world around them and learn in the way most natural to them. Michael and Toby both have over 30 years of experience in working with pre-school children and they have created an ideal learning environment right in their own backyard! ...more...

Reminiscences from Winifred ("Winnie") Osburn Kelley

The second in our series of personal stories and reminiscences has been posted.

It's a fascinating portrait of growing up in and around Bluemont, with many pictures, including her father as a young man in the early 1900s.

Winnie Kelley's father's sister was Winifred Simpson Osburn Foerster, better known as "Aunt Freddy", who ran the Bluemont General Store (pictured). ...more...

Bluemont Citizens Association Spring Social

Sunday, May 17, 2009
At the Bluemont Community Center

3-6 pm

Live Music -- Moon Bounce
Bring a Dish to Share - Meet Your Neighbors ...more...

Friends of Bluemont Launches "If This House Could Talk"

Does your house have a story to tell?

This year, Friends of Bluemont is launching a new project—“If This House Could Talk” —to spotlight homes or other buildings of the Bluemont area – houses up on the mountain, down in the village, and nearby.  We will be taking photos, collecting stories, and scanning historic photographs and documents.

Most of Bluemont is outside of the village itself.  We'd love to hear from anyone in the 20135 zip code, or just beyond the official boundary, with something interesting to tell.

Please tell us about the history of your house.

Friends of Bluemont’s house history project has the potential to collect a great deal of information about the life and times of Western Loudoun that might otherwise be lost—and to make it widely available.