Architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

 John Ariss (sometimes spelled Ayres) (1725–1799) was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia

Westmoreland County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,718 people, 6,846 households, and 4,689 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 9,286 housing units at an average density of...

 to a family long settled in the Old Dominion. Two of his works have been classified as National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

s. A rare surviving, documented example of his work is Traveller's Rest

Traveller's Rest (West Virginia)

Travelers Rest, also known as Old Stone House, is a historic home located near Burlington, Mineral County, West Virginia. It was built as a stagecoach stop to service the Northwestern Turnpike. It serviced the corridor between Winchester, Virginia and Parkersburg, Virginia...

 in Kearneysville, West Virginia

Kearneysville, West Virginia

Kearneysville is an unincorporated community in Jefferson County in the U.S. state of West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. According to the 2000 census, Kearneysville and its surrounding community has a population of 6,716...

, which he designed as a farmstead home for American Revolutionary War

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Horatio Gates

Horatio Gates

Horatio Lloyd Gates was a retired British soldier who served as an American general during the Revolutionary War. He took credit for the American victory at the Battle of Saratoga – Benedict Arnold, who led the attack, was finally forced from the field when he was shot in the leg – and...

. He is also believed to have designed the Neo-Palladian estate

Estate (house)

An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds of a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It is the modern term for a manor, but lacks the latter's now abolished jurisdictional authority...

 Mount Airy

Mount Airy, Richmond County, Virginia

Mount Airy, near Warsaw in Richmond County, Virginia, built in 1758-62, is a mid-Georgian plantation house, the first built in the manner of a neo-Palladian villa. It was constructed for Colonel John Tayloe II, perhaps the richest Virginia planter of his generation...

, located in Richmond County, Virginia

Richmond County, Virginia

Richmond County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia, a state in the United States. As of 2010, the population was 9,254. Its county seat is Warsaw. The rural county should not be confused with the large city and state capital Richmond, Virginia, which is over...

 on Virginia's Northern Neck

Northern Neck

The Northern Neck is the northernmost of three peninsulas on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This peninsula is bounded by the Potomac River on the north and the Rappahannock River on the south. It encompasses the following Virginia counties: Lancaster,...

.

Ariss was born in Westmoreland County in 1725, but by 1743 his father was dead and Ariss apparently chose his brother Spencer Ariss as his guardian. Subsequently Ariss may have been sent to England for schooling because his return from England is noted in 1751. In 1755 Ariss moved to nearby Richmond County, and in 1767 he moved again, this time to Fauquier County. Ariss was a longtime friend of General George Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

, to whom he rented his home. Some also believe that Ariss had a role in designing the Washington home at Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon

The name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...

.

The relationship between the two families was of long standing: Ariss was the great-grandson of Col. Nicholas Spencer

Nicholas Spencer

Col. Nicholas Spencer was a London merchant who emigrated to Westmoreland County, Virginia, where he became a planter and which he represented in the Virginia House of Burgesses...

 of Cople Parish, Westmoreland, who had patented the Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon

The name Mount Vernon is a dedication to the English Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon. It was first applied to Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, the first President of the United States...

 estate with his friend Lt. Col. John Washington

John Washington

John Washington was an English Virginia planter and politician. He was the immigrant ancestor and great-grandfather of George Washington, first president of the United States of America.-Early life and family:...

.