Encompassing 381+/– acres, renowned Hickory Tree Farm is one of the finest thoroughbred horse farms in Middleburg, the heart of Virginia’s Hunt Country. Offering rolling pastures and magnificent views of the Blue Ridge and the Bull Run Mountains, the farm is rich in history, including being home to Devil’s Bag (syndicated for a record 36 million dollars as a two-year-old), and Hagley, recently inducted into the Virginia Equine Hall of Fame.

In the early 1920’s, the owner of Hickory Tree Stables, well known horseman William Ziegler, Jr., heir to the Royal Baking Powder fortune, hired wellknown architect William Lawrence Bottomley to design the Georgian style barns, outbuildings, and training track. Mr. Ziegler’s race horse stable operation was very successful, as was the subsequent farms owner, the well-known sportswoman Eleanor Sears of Boston.

In 1966, Mr. and Mrs. James P. Mills, Sr. purchased the farm and combined several other farms to create what is now known as Hickory Tree Farm. Mrs. Mills named her farm for the lovely old hickory tree used by Col. John S. Mosby’s soldiers as a rendezvous spot halfway between the village of Middleburg and their camp during the Civil War, contributing to its importance in the history of Middleburg and the surrounding horse country.