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All the United States Virginia Vienna Lahey Lost Valley House
AO Edited

Lahey Lost Valley House

A small brick parlor house and artist's studio located in the wilderness is surrounded by imposing suburban palaces.

Vienna, Virginia

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Ian Hall
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Lahey Lost Valley House   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Lahey Lost Valley House   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Back yard at Lahey Lost Valley House.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Back side of Lahey Lost Valley House.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
View of Lahey Lost Valley House from one of the trails.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Trail on Lahey Lost Valley property.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
Artist Studio at Lahey Lost Valley House.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
View of the house from the street at Cheddar Dr. and Brookhill Ln.   blimpcaptain / Atlas Obscura User
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Hidden from view on a tract of land that was granted to Henry Gunnell and passed along to his son and daughter-in-law, is a house that was part of a working plantation in the mid-1700s.

The house and 45 acres of land remained in the Gunnell family for approximately 200 years until it was sold to Richard and Carlotta Lahey in 1940. The Laheys converted a kitchen addition into an artist studio and relocated it across the front lawn from the main house, then replaced it with a two-story brick addition attached to the main house.

Before she died, Carlotta Lahey bequeathed the house, furnishings, and 22 acres of land to the Fairfax County Park Authority. It was agreed upon that the house would remain unoccupied as part of a nature preserve within its thick forest cocoon.  

The park authority helped to remediate some serious insect damage to the property in the 1990s, before taking possession of the house and property in 1999 after Carlotta's passing.

The house remains unoccupied and is an outstanding place for a short nature walk.

Related Tags

Houses History & Culture Architecture Nature Homes

Know Before You Go

Parking for the park is on the street at the end of Brookmeadow Drive.

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blimpcaptain

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AF

  • AF

Published

May 25, 2021

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  • https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/resident-curator-program/lahey-lost-valley
Lahey Lost Valley House
9750 Brookmeadow Dr
Vienna, Virginia, 22182
United States
38.929357, -77.282514
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