4001 Church Point Rd., Virginia Beach, VA 23455

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757-505-0044

The History of Church Point Manor

Built in 1860, the Victorian-style farmhouse is listed on the Virginia Beach Historical Register. Following a restoration and renovation in 1993, the house was converted into a Bed and Breakfast that entertained esteemed guests like President Barack Obama.

One of the rare surviving 19th century farmhouses in the area, the Victorian farmhouse features the original Italianate detail at the cornices and decorative window lintels. G.G. Garrison built the house in 1860 to live near his father, who owned the nearby Bayville Manor. For the next 50 years, the farm supplied the county with the finest oysters of the Lynnhaven.

The house was then sold to Elijah Fillmore Truitt, a Norfolk man, whose family owned the house for most of the early part of the 20th century. The Burroughs family bought the property in 1932, combining the farm and its property to the adjacent Bayville Farm. Mr. Burroughs hired and housed a couple local farmers and their families throughout his years of ownership to help manage the farms: the Mast family (the 1930s) and the Porter family (1945 - 1972). The farm managers and their families lived in and worked from the Church Point Manor House, and the farm continued to grow until World War II made agricultural labor scarce.

In need of labor, the United States Army supplied the farm with a workforce of WWII prisoners of war from the nearby Camp Ashby. These laborers were paid a wage of $.80 per day — roughly equal to the daily wage of an American private. With the prisoners repatriated back to Europe in 1946, citizens of Norfolk and Princess Anne County flooded in to work Manor's fields once again.

By now, the farm focused on dairy - providing a protein-rich, golden-hued milk from a large herd of Guernsey cattle. By 1960, the farm was the nation's largest producer of Guernsey milk. In the 70s however, consumer demand shifted away from Guernsey milk, and the farm's finances began to tighten.

In 1993, developer Jahn Summs purchased historic Manor and converted the property into a charming bed & breakfast and neighborhood pub. The B&B passed through the hands of local developer and Norfolk’s Admirals hockey team owner, Mark Garcea, to businessman Gerald F McDonnell. The bed and breakfast entertained guests like President Barack Obama and Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, and the Manor’s restaurant, The Cellars, won the title of Best Restaurant in Virginia by OpenTable in 2015.

The Manor closed down in 2016 and sat vacant for two years. In 2018, the Marx family purchased the property and began a 3-year restoration that culminated in our 2021 reopening for weddings, events, and overnight stays.