History of the Thomas Birkby House

The following account is a blend of materials from Town records; discussions with descendants, especially Emory Plaster a descendant of the Birkby and the Norris families; and, research by John Phillips.
The Thomas Birkby House, on the western edge of the original Town of Leesburg, was designated as Lot 59 as surveyed by John Hough for Nicholas Minor the developer of Leesburg. Royal Street borders it on the south, Liberty (formerly West) Street on the west, Loudoun (formerly Shenandoah) Street on the north and Lot 60 on the east. It is in the historic district, at 109 Loudoun Street, SW.

In its early history, the property changed hands many times. The first owner of Lot 59 was James Hamilton, a trustee of the town and future member of the House of Burgesses, who purchased it in 1758 for £10, a premium since it already included a structure on the property. His home probably faced Liberty Street, as once did the current house, note door on outside. In 1759 the new owner acquired the lot for £30, indicating substantial improvements. Eventually the home was reoriented to face Loudoun Street.

In 1814 when Peter Benedum owned the property, it was most certainly used as a House of Private Entertainment or an Ordinary (tavern). A brick stable (the Carriage House) located on the east side of Lot 59 was built at that time, making Lot 59 a plausible business venture.

The house was described as a frame dwelling house in 1821 when purchased by Joshua Reilly and as a brick dwelling in 1827 when purchased by Thomas Birkby.

Thomas Birkby, approximately the 12th owner of Lot 59, unified the existing structure with an overlay of brick giving it the façade you see today; note the initials TB, Jr. 1832 on the outside west wall.

Bruce McIntosh first rented and then purchased the home in about 1903 from Ned, the last Birkby to live there. Mr. McIntosh's daughter Hannah Brown McIntosh diZerega lived there until 1986. Her bedroom is now the Board Room and her Aunt Mary's room is now the Business Center. Paul and Joyce Bengston purchased the house from Hannah Brown and sold it in 1998 to the present owner, Ronald Rust.

The Birkbys
Rev. Thomas Birkby was born in Kippax, Yorkshire, England in 1778 and died in Leesburg in 1851. His voyage to America in 1800 took 10 weeks; the voyage must have been quite rough as his family thought the ship had capsized and he had drowned. He disembarked in Alexandria, moving later to Warrenton before arriving in Leesburg. The only one of his family to come to America, he left behind his parents and his younger siblings (3 sisters and 3 brothers). He and his wife Sarah had several children. 109 Loudoun was his second Leesburg home.

Thomas Birkby had two occupations. He built and repaired coaches, carriages and buggies. His Coach Factory operated out of the brick stable. His son Thomas W. and his daughter Sarah's husband continued the coach business after his death.

Rev. Birkby was also a lay preacher and a vice-president of Methodist Sabbath School Society. He officiated at the wedding of several members of his own family. The history of The Norris House Inn across Loudoun Street was linked to the Birkby House in 1832 when Rev. Birkby's daughter Hannah Sophia Birkby married John Norris.

Two children Thomas W. and Joseph Birkby were town leaders. Two young grandsons John M. and Henry C. Birkby died during the Civil War. Children and grandchildren owned several near-by homes.

The Property
The House is a high-style federal five-bay town house, with American 5-course brickwork. The early construction faced Liberty Street. As you walk through the house you can see two distinct buildings as shown in the mismatched floor and ceiling levels. Note brick molding on southern east roofline. The ballroom was once two rooms (note line in ceiling and two different mantels) and the east parlors were once one room (notice position of the fireplace). The Bengstons combined two bathrooms on the second floor in the back into one and converted a sewing room in the front of the second floor to a bathroom. The restroom in the reception room was added in 1999.

The woodwork of the Birkby House has been updated over the years and today bulls eye corner blocks dominate. The crown molding, chair railing and medallions in the ballroom and parlors were added during the 1999 renovation. Picture molding was common in most rooms. The McIntosh's added new wood floors over the original wide plank floors, electrified the house, added American boxwoods, and removed the staircase (now a closet). The house has 10 fireplaces; two now covered (one in the 2nd floor east rooms, the other in the kitchen), one in the east basement, four on the first floor, and three on the second floor. The chimney on the south side has 4 flues but two fireplaces suggesting that the building continued on the south side where the summer kitchen is located.

During several sales of the house in the early 1800s, a Mrs. Elliot lived in what was described as a small log house, perhaps located where the summer kitchen is today.

The entrance hall for the early house is where the Service Restroom is today. That front door is still visible from the outside. A staircase in the hall near the kitchen (now a closet) was removed in the early 1900s. An outside stairway from the back porch was removed several years ago.

The Coach Factory had a long ramp on the south side by Royal Street going up to the second floor. A Franklin-type stove was housed on the 2nd floor, possibly for the workman who lived in a second floor room. This small room and chimney were removed when the upper level of the Coach House was renovated in 1999. The notches for the stalls can still be seen in the beams in the first floor when it was used as a stable.

A 1907 map shows a blacksmith shop in the southeastern corner of the yard as well as several other small buildings.

Sometime in the late 1800's/early 1900's a summer kitchen was added to the south side of the house but it was torn down and no trace remains. At one time a garage for carriages was attached to the east side with access from Loudoun Street. Windows were added when the carriage house was torn down. The house was electrified prior to World War I; the ceiling light fixtures on the second floor are original to this period.