Nearly two hundred years of history
Established in 1820, Chantilly was once a Wilkes County cotton plantation consisting of over 1000 acres.
History and heritage.
Since 1820, Chantilly Plantation's Manor House has stood sentinel on the hill on Spring Street in Washington, Georgia. From the original Plantation Plain house to the grand columned home of today, Chantilly holds secrets from ages past. Once occupied by Union Troops during the Civil War, the manor has been home to a series of families who have preserved its history and heritage.
History found at Chantilly
Nearly two hundred years of history is to be found at Chantilly. The Honorable Francis Willis, US Congressman and a founding father of Washington, Georgia established Chantilly in the early nineteenth century. The oldest portion of the house at Chantilly was probably built in the 1820's. In the 1830's James Rembert Dubose, brother in law to Senator Robert Toombs, enlarged the plantation plain style house and by 1850, completed Chantilly as it appears today. Dubose was master of Chantilly in the Antebellum years when it was a cotton plantation consisting of over 1000 acres.
Restoration and wonder
In the 1960’s Robert and Carroll Leavell completed a restoration and lived in the house for the next 50 years. The house and 19 acres were purchased by the Bagley's in 2016 along with the surrounding 101 acres which put the house and farm back together. Come visit Chantilly and see for yourself the beauty and wonder of an authentic antebellum plantation.
Post Civil War
After the Civil War, the Dubose family sold the house and surrounding lands. Beginning in the 1890's, in addition to cotton production, the farm concentrated on dairy and butter production and it came to be known as "Brook Hill". Brook hill butter was sold throughout Georgia.
Lost
Chantilly
Gold
Who knows where it could be on the grounds?
Chantilly is situated approximately 1 mile from the Washington town square where in 1865 Confederate President Jefferson Davis held the last cabinet meeting of the Confederacy in the Old Bank Building. A wagon train with the Confederate gold reserves came to Washington during this time before the Union occupation and it is rumored that the gold was hidden somewhere in the town of Washington, Georgia. Who knows, it may even be on the grounds of Chantilly. After all James Rembert Dubose, owner of Chantilly was brother-in-law to Senator Robert Toombs who escaped capture and remained an unreconstructed rebel for the rest of his life.