Rust Manor House

Rust Manor House. . , Henry and Anne Harrison purchased the land that is now Rust Sanctuary in 1909 and built the Manor House. William and Mary Rust bought the property in 1929, renovating portions of the house, adding the front and rear porches and a new grand staircase in the foyer. They named their new property Yeocomico after the church in Westmoreland County, Virginia, where William's ancestor, also William Rust, settled after arriving from England. The garden, the large trees and the stone wall were put in by the Rusts at the same time., William and Mary were members of a longtime Leesburg family and wanted their new home to resemble features of the older Rust family homes. The main staircase and rear portico were patterned after those found in Rockland, a home on Route 15 north of White's Ferry., The Rust family sold the property in 1948 to Ida Polen, who owned restaurants in Washington and Arlington. When she died in 1971, the property was set for auction and had been subdivided for development as housing sites., William Rust, Jr. saw the auction ad and repurchased his boyhood home and property. He moved into the Manor House with his wife Margaret and their family, converting the servant's end of the house into offices for his business., After William Jr. died in 1991 and Margaret in 1995, their children donated Yeocomico to the Audobon Naturalist Society so the land would be preserved and opened to the public. They also wanted it to be used for environmental education, something important to Margaret who placed a conservation easement on the property in 1994 to protect it., Today, Rust Sanctuary totals 68 acres after 5 acres of land were added by the Audobon Natrualist Society to preserve the vernal pool found on the western edge of the Sanctuary. NOVA Parks took over management of the property in 2013 enabling ANS to focus on environmental education at Rust Sanctuary. NOVA Parks hosts weddings and other events to help fund the maintenance of the park., [Captions] , Except for the bumped out front door section, which made room for the new grand staircase in 1929, the footprint of the house has remained the same since it was first built in 1909., The Rust family farmed on the property during their first period of ownership, raising chickens and cattle. The chicken house shown here sat behind the garage/stables., Sections of the original property were sold off over the years during Rust ownership. The 75.31 acres auctioned in 1971 was reduced to 63 acres when donated to ANS, probably due to land lost to the nearby Route 7 Bypass construction.