1810–1857

Vermont native Elijah Fletcher moves to Virginia and later purchases a house with roughly 1,000 acres which he names Sweetbrier [sic] because of the land’s abundance of wild roses. Used as a summer home until 1841 when he permanently moves from Lynchburg to Sweetbrier Plantation. The Fletcher family ultimately enslaves more than 140 people.

1858

Fletcher’s two daughters, Indiana and Elizabeth, inherit Sweetbrier. Indiana purchases Elizabeth’s share of the plantation and renames it Sweet Briar. Elizabeth and her husband William Mosby acquire the adjoining tract and begin plans for Mt. San Angelo, including the 27-acre lawn that was planted with more than 70 varieties of trees and shrubs.

1871–1890

A two-story Italianate villa with gable roofs and central tower is completed at Mt. San Angelo in 1871. Elizabeth lives there apart from her estranged husband until her death in 1890. The property is bequeathed to the Catholic Sisters in Lynchburg who refuse it, and Mt. San Angelo reverts to Indiana Fletcher Williams, becoming part of the Sweet Briar holdings.

1901

Sweet Briar College is founded upon the legacy of Indiana Fletcher Williams who died in 1900. The college is designed predominantly by architect Ralph Adams Cram, who designed the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City.

1906

Sweet Briar College opens. Many of the employees are descendants of enslaved workers at Sweetbrier Plantation.

1908

Sweet Briar College remodels the Italianate villa at Mt. San Angelo into a much larger Georgian Revival mansion with the intention of using the property as the college president’s house. When Mary Benedict, the first president of Sweet Briar chooses not to live there, the college sells Mt. San Angelo to English physician and research chemist George E. Walker. The Walkers host many social events for Sweet Briar students, making Mt. San Angelo an important social center for the college.

1915

After Dr. Walker’s death, Alfred C. and Ethel Barrow purchase Mt. San Angelo. The Barrows construct a lake and add extensively to the gardens including a sunken boxwood garden centered with a pool filled with water lilies and edged with peonies, iris, boxwood, and roses. They border the drive with boxwoods and plant flowering crabapples and cherry trees.

1932

Mr. and Mrs. Holland Reavis purchase Mt. San Angelo. They add a 13,000 square-foot Normandy style barn (now the Studio Barn), a swimming pool, and tennis courts. Extensive vegetable and fruit gardens are also added.

1968

Mt. San Angelo is re-purchased for Sweet Briar College with funds from an anonymous donor.

1977