Mount Bleak House

Sky Meadows State Park is wrapping up the first phase of a transformative project: the full restoration of two original windows at Mount Bleak House. These are not replicas, but the actual panes installed when the home was built in the 1840s. 

The history behind the windows 

Named after a 19th-century term for exposed, barren and windy, Mount Bleak is a Federal-style dwelling common to the Eastern region of the country.  

Abner Settle, the local postmaster and general store owner in the town of Paris, has been credited with having built Mount Bleak in the 1840s. However, the labor involved in both building and running the farm was done by the people he enslaved, who were neither paid nor credited for their work. 

Settle lived in the house with his second wife, Mary Ann Kyle Settle, and many of their 12 children. According to census records, there were 13 people enslaved on Mount Bleak Farm in 1860. Names of enslaved people were not recorded, only their genders, ages and races. 

The Settles sold Mount Bleak Farm in 1866, and it was renamed Slater’s Place by George Slater, who lived there from 1868 to 1926. 

For much of the 1930s, the house was vacant or occupied by tenant farmers and eventually sold at auction. In 1941, Sir Robert Hadow, British Consulate member to the United States, purchased the 365-acre farm.  

Hadow renamed the property Skye Farm and utilized it as a haven for his family during World War II. During Hadow’s residency through 1946, Mount Bleak gained amenities common of the 20th century: electricity, heat and plumbing.  

By the 1950s, Mount Bleak Farm expanded to about 900 acres and was sold to the Scott Family. It was then that the property gained the name Sky Meadows.   

Why the windows are unique 

Vintage Building of Winchester performing a Dutch fix on the jamb 

Virginia has few historic homes that still feature their original 1840s windows, making this restoration a rare find. 

What makes these windows special is the use of “heart of pine,” old-growth heartwood saturated with natural resin that resists rot even better than modern treated lumber.  

During restoration, contractors cut into the jambs and encountered sap still present, so fresh and oily that it even glazed the blades. The scent of freshly cut wood from the 1840s lingered as though it had just been harvested that morning. 

However, the process didn’t begin when the sashes were removed. Members of DCR’s resource management team conducted thorough site visits to survey every window. They documented existing conditions, identified original sashes and frames and formulated formal preservation recommendations. 

Under the leadership of Park Manager Patrick McNamara, Sky Meadows commissioned Vintage Building of Winchester for their window-restoration expertise. 

With the first two windows restored and reinstalled, Vintage Building will begin work on the remaining 28 windows, preserving both form and function. 

A restored sash with a coat of linseed oil paint 

---

This project exemplifies Sky Meadows’ commitment to preserving history while restoring functionality, ensuring Mount Bleak stands tall for generations to come. 

To learn more about Mount Bleak or to plan your visit to Sky Meadows State Park, please go to https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/sky-meadows.