River Farm which is located just outside of Alexandria, Va is the current home of the AHS (American Horticultural Society) Headquarters. Giles Brent and his wife, Mary Kittamaquund, a princess of the Piscataway tribe acquired the property in 1653. In 1739 William Clifton became the owner of the property and built the brick home which currently houses the AHS. When he ran into financial trouble, Clifton sold the property to his neighbor, George Washington and it became a part of Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate. It was Washington who changed the name of the property to River Farm. The descendants of the Washington family owned the property for over 100 years. After the Washington’s, River Farm was owned by a variety of people until 1919 when a man by the name of Malcolm Matheson purchased River Farm. In 1971 Matheson decided to put River Farm up for sale. The Soviet Embassy showed an interest in purchasing the property as a retreat for it’s staff but this did not sit well with Matheson or the locals in the area. Matheson ultimately took the property off the market in order to prevent the Soviets from purchasing it. After the property was taken off the market, philanthropist and avid gardener, Enid Haupt took an interest in the property. Haupt was a member of the board of directors of the AHS and the society purchased the property in the 70s. In 1973 the AHS moved its headquarters to the River Farm property. Haupt, who had donated money to pay off the mortgage of the property, stipulated that she would like the property to remain open to the public. Continue reading