1216 Brent Street

Found in The Streets of Fredericksburg, Brent Street was named after Margaret Brent (c. 1601 – 1671), In 1648, she was granted 1,000 acres in this location. Brent, a Catholic, immigrated to Maryland in 1638. In 1650, she moved to the Aquia area of Stafford County and eventually held 8,764 acres of land, to include acreage in this year’s Candlelight Tour.

The original portion of this handsome two-story home was built in 1930 and it’s the section closest to the driveway. It has four bays, an exterior stone veneer chimney, and a front entry porch with hand rails that was originally a stoop. Stylistically, it exhibits elements inspired from Craftsman bungalow architecture, which was a style that was very popular beginning in the 1920s and continues to resonate with us in the 21st century as seen in the newer side and rear elevations.  Other hallmarks of the style are the 3 vertical panes of glass in the upper window sash while the lower sash is a single window pane. Architectural historians abbreviate by stating 3/1 windows. Other elements include the exposed rafter tails, wide roof eaves, and knee brackets.

The first owner was Betsy Bassett Sacrey, Mary Washington College graduate (Class of ‘27) and her husband Nymat Sacrey, Jr., a longtime employee with the Virginia Shoe Company (now home to the locally owned Woolen Mill). She taught at Stafford County High School and later accepted a federal job as a mathematician at the Dahlgren Proving Ground. From 1969 to 1983, the house was occupied by Glenn R. Crocker, a scientist employed by the Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren.  With the exception of central a/c, electrical and plumbing system upgrades, the interior of the house remained largely unchanged. Since the turn of the 21st century the dwelling has been the recipient of additions, more than doubling the footprint with both side and rear appendages each of two stories. The current owners are from a long line of local builders, the Holloways. Note the whimsical Little Library out front complete with slate tiles (where do you think the slate came from, perhaps salvaged from a building site?)

Select Citations:  Edward Alvey, The Streets of Fredericksburg. Mary Washington College Foundation, Inc. (Fredericksburg, Virginia) 1978, pp. 64-65.  HFFI Marker Map Online, https://hffi.org/hffi-marker-map/ (accessed December 2022).