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{{short description|Historic house in West Virginia, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Traveller's Rest
| nrhp_type = nhl
| image = Traveler's Rest WV1.jpg
| caption = Traveller's Rest in 2013
| location = Bowers Rd., west of [[Kearneysville, West Virginia]]
| coordinates = {{coord|39|23|17.3|N|77|54|04.3|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = West Virginia#USA
| area = {{convert|202|acre|ha}}
| built = {{start date|1773}}
| architect = [[Horatio Gates]], [[John Ariss]]
| architecture =
| designated_nrhp_type = {{dts|1972|11|15}}
| added = {{dts|1972|11|15}}
| refnum = 72001288<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>
}}

'''Traveller's Rest''', also known as the '''General Horatio Gates Home''', is an [[Plantation house in the Southern United States|historic plantation house]] located on Bowers Road near [[Kearneysville, West Virginia|Kearneysville]], [[Jefferson County, West Virginia]]. Built in 1773 and enlarged a few years later, it was the home of [[Continental Army]] General [[Horatio Gates]] from 1773 until 1790. The house is very little altered from that period, and was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1972.<ref name="nris"/> The house is located on private property, and is not normally open to the public.

==Description==
Traveller's Rest is located in a rural setting west of Kearneysville, on more than {{convert|200|acre|ha}} of land which Bowers Road (County Road 1/1) runs through in an east–west direction. The main house, a {{frac|1|1|2}}-story stone structure, is set well back on the north side of the road. The eastern section was built by the Hyatt family in a side hall plan, with the western added by Gates a few years later in 1773. The eastern section is a {{frac|1|1|2}}-story structure over a full basement, with a gable roof. It measures about 34 feet wide and 30 feet deep. The western section is also a {{frac|1|1|2}}-story structure with a full basement and measures about 16 feet wide and 30 feet deep.<ref name="dhr">{{cite web|url=https://wvculture.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Travellers-rest.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Traveller's Rest |date=July 1972|access-date=2011-06-02 |author=Charles W. Snell|publisher=State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation}}</ref> The elevation is seven bays wide.<ref name="allen7475">{{cite book |last1=Allen |first1=John C. Jr. |title=Uncommon Vernacular: The Early Houses of Jefferson County, West Virginia, 1735-1835 |date=2011 |publisher=West Virginia University Press |isbn=978-1-933202-87-7 |pages=74–75}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Traveler's Rest, Leetown vicinity (Jefferson County, West Virginia).jpg|thumb|left|250px|Traveler's Rest, 1936 HABS Photo]]
Horatio Gates, a native of England, served in the [[British Army]] during the [[French and Indian War]], but was prevented from advancement after the war by a lack of money or political connection. Gates and his family sailed from England to [[Virginia]] in 1772 and bought {{convert|659|acre|ha}} on the [[Potomac River]] near [[Shepherdstown, West Virginia|Shepherdstown]] in what is now West Virginia. He built this limestone house and became a slave owner, a local justice, and a lieutenant colonel in the militia. When the [[American Revolutionary War]] broke out, Gates helped organized the [[Continental Army]], and went on to become of its more controversial generals, gaining the important victory at [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga]] in 1777 and a humiliating loss at [[Battle of Camden|Camden]] in 1780. After the war, Gates returned to Traveller's Rest.<ref name="dhr"/> In 1790, he sold the home, freed his slaves and moved to [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web| title = Major General Horatio Gates| publisher = Americans.net| url = http://www.americanrevolution.com/HoratioGates.htm| access-date =2008-11-12}}</ref>

Gates employed [[John Ariss]] for interior woodwork, at a time when Ariss was working on nearby projects for the [[Washington family]]. Gates added to the original four-bay structure ashlar masonry, appending a three-bay random rubble stone extension. The dormers were added after Gates' tenure.<ref name="chambers1">{{cite book |last1=Chambers |first1=S. Allen Jr. |title=Buildings of West Virginia |date=September 8, 2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516548-7 |pages=548–549}}</ref>

The only major documented alteration to the house after the period of Gates ownership is the addition of dormers to the gabled roof.<ref name="dhr"/>

==See also==
*[[List of National Historic Landmarks in West Virginia]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, West Virginia]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{commons category-inline|Traveller's Rest (Kearneysville, West Virginia)}}
*{{HABS |survey=WV-1 |id=wv0125 |title=Traveler's Rest, Leetown vicinity, Jefferson County, WV |photos=10 |dwgs=8 |data=2 |supp=yes}}

{{National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia}}
{{Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia}}

[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Houses in Jefferson County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Georgian architecture in West Virginia]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Jefferson County, West Virginia]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1773]]
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in West Virginia]]
[[Category:Colonial architecture in West Virginia]]
[[Category:John Ariss buildings]]
[[Category:Plantation houses in West Virginia]]
[[Category:1773 establishments in the Colony of Virginia]]

Traveller's Rest (Kearneysville, West Virginia) - Revision history

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