News & Announcements
The latest news and announcements from Friends of Happy Retreat.
Happy Retreat Craft Beer and Music Festival Announces Musical Lineup
Jefferson County’s first ever beer and music festival will feature 4 regional touring bands as well as 20 brewers with over 40 different beers to sample. On Saturday, September 10, 2016, Charles Town will host Jefferson County’s first ... read more
Home of George Washington’s brother becomes a national treasure
Happy Retreat is being renovated and will hold events for the public. By Nina Kapur | [email protected] Published 06/24 2016 05:22PM CHARLESTOWN, W Va. West Virginia has a long list of historical sights, but one location in Charles Town ... read more
Happy Retreat named National Treasure
Washington Family Home Named a National Treasure Nation’s largest preservation organization partners with Friends of Happy Retreat to create a new cultural center for Charles Town community Washington (June 18, 2016) – Today, the ... read more
Piecing the Past Together
An example of how photographic and documentary evidence has helped us understand a piece of Happy Retreat’s past came when the 1960s era screen porch was removed last fall. The porch foundation was masonry, with gravel infill. As the ... read more
Setting Restoration Priorities
Because it was built in phases by different owners during different architectural periods, Happy Retreat presents special challenges to historic interpretation and restoration. It is believed that the original house that Charles ... read more
April 2016 Rising Sun Newsletter
“Ask us in a year,” is the answer to most questions about Happy Retreat, questions such as, “When was the stone kitchen built?” or, “Is this an original window?” or, “What was this room used for when Charles Washington lived here?” We ... read more
Historic Structures Report Underway
The consulting firm of Maral Kalbian, LLC, of nearby Berryville, Virginia, has been hired to prepare a Historic Structure Report (HSR) on Happy Retreat. The National Park Service provides this description of a historic structure ... read more
Charles Town Art & Revitalization
Watch Video [youtube id=”GhSrFDxHgiM” align=”center” mode=”normal” autoplay=”no” maxwidth=”800″] read more
January 2016 Rising Sun Newsletter
2015 was a momentous year in which our nine year effort to acquire and preserve Happy Retreat finally bore fruit.At the end of 2014, the City of Charles Town, under the leadership of Mayor Peggy Smith, stepped forward with an ... read more
Progress on Welcome Center
A brick garage was built behind Happy Retreat by C. Magnus Conklyn and his brother, J.P Conklyn, who owned the property from 1920 until 1945. Its design mimics the Greek Revival architectural style of the portions of the house built in read more