Green Spring Farm, Fairfax County, Virginia

A vivid portrait of a single Virginia farm becomes a window onto the wider story of Fairfax County. Through the eyes of three successive families—the Moss freeholders of the 18th‑century, the Beatties who ran an orchard and dairy at the turn of the 20th‑century, and the Straight family witnessing the end of traditional farming in the 1960s—the narrative weaves together personal letters, court records, and vivid maps to show how ordinary people shaped, and were shaped by, the land.

The book also guides listeners through the farm’s built environment, describing the mansion house, the humble log cabin, the spring house and other outbuildings with clear floor plans and period photographs. By pairing architectural detail with social history, the work brings the rhythms of rural life, wartime pressures and modern development to life, inviting anyone curious about the roots of a community to hear its layered past.