Location
Grist Mill Cabin is located in Quickburg, Virginia, a short distance from Luray, Harrisonburg. The welcoming charm will make your getaway quickly feel like your home away from home.
Convenience and Charm
Relax in the granary (where grain was stored) next to an historical 18th century mill in the ghost village of Moore's Store. The deck overlooks a small waterfall on Holman's Creek, which is located about 30 minutes west of Luray. Convenient to Harrisonburg, Woodstock, and several local wineries, orchards, and farms. Real food from local farms is available for breakfast, featuring raw milk and eggs from pastured chickens.
For history buffs...
Thomas Moore surveyed the Fairfax Line with George Washington in colonial times for Britain's Lord Fairfax. Perhaps as payment, Lord Fairfax gave Moore a grant of about 1000 acres. The Moores were among the first English speaking people to settle this part of the Shenandoah Valley. The mill was built in the 1750s and, for a good while, Moore's Store was a thriving village. It stayed in the family for more than 200 years.
During the Civil War, General George Custer (later killed at Little Big Horn) burned down the mill under orders from General Sheridan. He also burned the miller's house (then operated by Joseph Moore) because this plantation had slaves. The slaves' quarters building still stands as does a chestnut log house brought to the site from Pennsylvania after the Burning as a temporary abode while a new home was built for the miller's family. The stone structure of the mill is from the original 1750s construction. The upper floors were rebuilt after the Civil War, only to burn again during a foundry fire gone awry in the village. The current structure is from 1867, with timber framing on the upper two stories. Last operated as Armentrout's Mill in the 1930s, George Armentrout, a descendant of the Moore's, accidentally blew himself up while dynamiting a tree stump.
The current owner bought the mill as a single mom of a grade schooler (now in college), unaware of its history. It was just a shell, in rough condition without running water or heat. But it seemed so peaceful, she knew in her heart that it was to be home for her daughter. She eventually remarried, and at a reunion of her new husband's family, an in-law informed them that her daughter was a distant cousin and that their mutual ancestors were the Moore's. So she inadvertently had bought her daughter's home place (on her Dad's side) and restored ownership back to the founding family!
Proceeds from the cottage rental help fund restoration projects in the mill.
See how some of our guests enjoyed their visits at Grist Mill Cabin:
http://studiomachine.blogspot.com/2011/11/return-to-grist-mill-cabin.html
http://studiomachine.blogspot.com/2011/02/grist-mill-cabin.html
http://moogielight.wordpress.com/2011/08/14/summer-bucket-list-fun-a-mini-vacation/
