R.L. and Nancy Bassett Stone House, Fairystone Park Highway, Bassett, Virginia
Fairy stones are mineral crystals that are found in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. They are six-sided and are often found in the shape of a Maltese, Roman, or St. Andrew's cross.
Many people consider finding them to bring good luck. The Bassett family are probably among those people, because they found plenty of good fortune in those fairy stone foothills.
John D. Bassett, Sr. (1866-1965) owned quite a bit of land in Henry County, Virginia, in the town that came to be called Bassett. He ran a mercantile and lumber business. His son-in-law Reed L. Stone was a local builder. Together they figured out that if they combined their interests, they could form their own furniture company, Bassett Furniture.
That was in 1902. Today Bassett Industries is a cluster of buildings that stretch along Fairystone Park Highway (VA-57). If you keep driving east past them, you'll eventually arrive at Fairy Stone State Park itself.
A little closer to headquarters is the R.L. and Nancy Bassett Stone house:
It was built around 1935 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
It's a "well preserved example of the Classical Revival Style with a prominent full height entry porch with a pediment leading into a large entry hall."
The living room still has R.L. Stone's portrait over the mantel, but sadly, no Bassett Furniture.
If it were mine, I'd bring back some of that style it would have had originally:
{Suzanne Kasler}
It would better match the dining room, which still has a lot of sparkle:
Sorry for the grainy dining room photo. It wasn't pictured in the listing, so I had to grab it from the realtor's Facebook video.
Instead, the listing shows us this spacious study:
The study fireplace is double sided, as it has another office behind it. This was where R.L. Stone met with clients for his building business, since it has its own outside entrance.
The floors in many of the rooms need to be re-finished, but the kitchen has been recently updated:
I almost saved this bedroom photo with its unique sculpture/coffee table for my April Fool post. (Or maybe it would be good for a Valentine's Day post?) It's a conversation piece, that's for sure. Pretty sure it wasn't made by Bassett Furniture.
This hall bath looks identical to one downstairs. There are five bathrooms total.
There's also a private suite of rooms known as the Butler's Quarters:
There is an additional 620 square foot guest space above the garage:
Other amenities include the pool, gazebo, chicken coop and gardens spread over almost three acres.
I really wanted to find a Bassett furniture ad to pair with the living room, and while I didn't get that lucky, (maybe I need some fairy stones) I briefly considered this design:
I liked how the three etageres would balance the three windows across from them.
From R.L. Stone's grand house to a 100 square foot apartment on a chair, the Bassett family found just the right setting for their furniture.
{source}
The listing is here.
{source}
