Carr/Greer Family Residence

photo by Dede Smith

There are no records to indicate who built the farm house at River View Farm, but it is likely that Hugh Carr constructed it himself after his marriage to Texie Mae in 1883.  Hugh and Texie Mae Carr raised their seven children in this house and additions have been made to its original structure over time.  After Hugh Carr’s death in 1914, his eldest daughter Mary Louise lived here with her husband Conly Greer and their daughter Evangeline.  Mary Carr Greer taught at the nearby Albemarle Training School and was its third principal. During this time, the Greers opened their home to ATS students who lived too far away to get to school each day.  After the land was purchased to create the Ivy Creek Natural Area, the farm house served as a care taker's residence for a period of time. 

The original farm house occupied the highest ground and was shaped like the letter ‘I’, oriented in an east-west direction with a center gable and two chimneys, one on either end. It is currently being stabilized and repaired and is off-limits to park visitors.  

See also: 1997 field notes on the residence by Dr. K. Edward Lay, Professor Emeritus of architecture, architectural history, and historic preservation at the University of Virginia.