Silas Burke House

This historic house built in 1824 served as the residence for the man for whom the surrounding town was named, Lieutenant Colonel Silas Burke, and his wife Hannah Coffer Burke. Burke lived in the house until his death in 1954 and nicknamed it “Woodbury.”

Burke was highly successful as a farmer, innkeeper, and owner of a store, grist and lumber mills, a blacksmith shop, and a brickyard.

He was also heavily involved in civics and served as chief justice of the Fairfax County Court, county sheriff, trustee, guardian, appraiser, road surveyor, President of the Fairfax Agricultural Society, and Commissioner of Public Buildings and Schools. 

The house later belonged to the Henry Copperthite Family, owners on the local race track. In 1925, it was purchased by William & Nellie Simpson, who gave the home a new nickname, “Top ‘O The Hill.” The house stayed in the Simpson family until the mid-2010s, at which point Terry and Susie Neal sold the house to a developer building an assisted living community with the caveat that the house remain open to the public.

Silas Burke House and its iconic windmill still sit proudly atop the hill upon which they were originally built, and, along with the historic Burke Post Office, have been incorporated into the grounds of the Sunrise assisted living community and memory care center that now serve as a backdrop for the cherished Burke House.