Roosevelt's Little House in the Big Woods

 A little place called Pine Knot

If you're a Ted-Head, you probably already know about this place. If you're not, then perhaps you've never heard of Pine Knot, Theodore Roosevelt's presidential retreat near Scottsville, VA.

Even TR needed a break now and then - and here's where he went to read and spend time with his family.

       The site is maintained and preserved by The Edith and Theodore Roosevelt Pine Knot Foundation, here in the heart of Virginia. 

       TR did not broker a Nobel-prize winning peace treaty here, or negotiate the end of a coal miner's strike. He came to Pine Knot to get away from politics, and do the activities he liked best:

• reading - TR was a voracious reader, and had an outstanding memory of what he read
• bird watching - the one visitor to Pine Knot who was not family was John Burroughs the naturalist - they went birding together
• time with his family - TR was very pro-family.
• riding - his and Edith's horses were stabled at a nearby farm so they could ride together. 
• walking - the woods around Pine Knot have several trails which TR tramped. 

 In a letter to his son Kermit, TR described the cabin: 

      The piazza is the real feature of the house. It is broad and runs along the whole length and the roof is high near the wall, for it is a continuation of the roof of the house. It was lovely to sit there in the rocking-chairs and hear all the birds by daytime and at night the whip-poor-wills and owls and little forest folk. Inside, the house is just a bare wall with one big room below, which is nice now, and will be still nicer when the chimneys are up and there is a fire-place in each end. A rough stairs leads above, where there are two rooms, separated by a passageway.   

 

 Pine Knot is open to the public by appointment.  Appointments for visits should be made in advance. Inquiries about Pine Knot may be made by writing to Pine Knot, PO Box 213, Keene, VA, 22946.

Contributions earmarked for the support of Pine Knot are tax deductible as provided by law and may be made to The Edith & Theodore Roosevelt Pine Knot Foundation  P.O. Box 213, Keene, Virginia 22946.

If you're in or passing through central Virginia, make plans to visit this rustic cabin and learn more about our 26th president.   After all, he's got his face on Mount Rushmore.

Bully!