Friends of the Stone House at Harper Park

The Stone House at Harper Park, built in 1822, was initially used as an ordinary. The building subsequently served as a tenant house and, eventually, a gift shop in the 1960s before being vacant for many years. The house, and the tract of land on which it stood, changed hands many times. By the 1960s, the house and land belonged to the Hamblet family. They donated the house to Loudoun County in 1968 to be used as a tourist information center, but the Board of Supervisors returned it in 1971 because of concerns about cost and transportation. On 28 March 1996, William Randall Hamblet, Susan Swink Hamblet, his wife, Susan Harper Hamblet, and Matthew Lewis Hamblet signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Board of Supervisors of Loudoun County. The memorandum conveyed a parcel containing the Stone House to the County of Loudoun. The gift stipulated that the building and its immediate surroundings be used as a "park housing a museum and/or tourist information center." The building was to be moved to another parcel, also owned by the donors, at no expense to the donors and this was accomplished. Joan Rokus, a former Loudoun County supervisor, became interested in preserving the building when the development of the Harper Park subdivision threatened the building's survival. She helped found Friends of the Stone House at Harper Park in 1996. In 1998, the Virginia State Corporation Commission issued a charter and the group adopted bylaws. The stated purpose of the organization was to support the reconstruction, occupancy, maintenance and preservation of the historic structure known as the Stone House at Harper Park. The organization achieved 501c3 status in May 2004 which enabled it to receive tax exempt donations. Rokus was the guiding force and first president of the board of Friends of the Stone House at Harper Park. The board worked closely with the county through the staff of the Department of Parks and Recreation. Plans for the restoration of the Stone House were drawn by John Milner Associates, Inc. of Alexandria, Virginia, in 2001. Friends of the Stone House at Harper Park sought funding from various organizations, and in 2004 it was awarded $100,000 in federal funding through the Transportation Equity Act for the Twenty-First Century. There were also smaller grants from other organizations such as the Loudoun Restoration and Preservation Society and from businesses and individuals. Despite these grants the board of the Friends of the Stone House realized that the funds were not going to be sufficient to complete the restoration work and make the house usable for the purpose designated in the deed of gift by the date set by the donors. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors was also becoming concerned about the mounting costs. After considerable correspondence with the donors it was decided to give the property back to them. The remaining money was given to several historical and preservation societies in the county. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors held a public hearing on 13 November 2007 to consider conveying the property to the donors. A letter in box 1, folder 13 indicates that the property was conveyed back to the family on that date. However, the final disbursement of the organization's funds did not take place until 2009 as noted in the agenda for a meeting of the "Friends, Advisors, and guests." The date of this meeting was not given but the agenda was sent, apparently by e-mail, on 19 April 2009.