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The Birchwood
Caleb Birch, a farmer and constable, built a log house here around 1800 on land granted to his grandfather, James Robertson, by Lord Fairfax in 1724. The
original house burned and was rebuilt about 1836. A second log cabin was added ten years later. The two cabins, although separate, had a common roof,
forming what was known as a “dog trot” house. Later President Theodore
Roosevelt rode horseback in this area with his friend and White House physician, Rear Admiral Presley M. Rixey, on whose estate Birchwood stood. Rixey’s valet, Richard Wallace, lived at Birchwood, and Roosevelt visited Wallace here. In 1936, Birchwood was reconstructed using the original logs.
