Cooperative Living March/April 2019 - 34

Left: Lemoine-Griffith House, a 4,000-squarefoot
Victorian farmhouse, has been part of the
community since the 1800s. Above: David
Griffith and his wife Darlene Benson. David
purchased the home in 2011, and after a year
of renovations, calls it home.
On the adjacent corner is the LemoineGriffith
House, a sprawling 4,000-squarefoot
Victorian farmhouse and linchpin
of Emmerton. Jerusalem Baptist's original
log church was in the front yard of
this home.
" An 1870 census shows Oscar Lemoine
living on the property. The house was
expanded in 1887. Since the original
church was built in 1832, we speculate
there was a house here earlier. You can see
different foundations where the newer
foundation was put in 1887, " says current
owner David Griffith.
Owner of Lemoine's Store, Oscar
Lemoine married the Rev. Thomas
Braxton's daughter Maria. His unmarried
sister Emma - who inspired the name
Emmerton - lived at the historic home
her entire life. In 1899 Lemoine's daughter
Olivia Staige married Benjamin Griffith,
inspiring the Lemoine-Griffith moniker.
Benjamin's brother William Fairfax
" Fax " Griffith took over the former
Lemoine Store following Oscar's death.
The brothers operated a tomato cannery
and Benjamin's store later included a
car dealership.
Benjamin and Olivia had two
daughters: daughter Katherine grew up
to marry William Tayloe Murphy, who
became a bank president, Virginia state
delegate and state treasurer. Their son
W. Tayloe Murphy Jr., a lawyer, delegate
to the Virginia General Assembly (19822000)
and Secretary of Natural Resources
(2002-2006) under then-Gov. Mark
Warner, lives in Westmoreland County
with wife Helen (daughter Anne Brumley
32 | Cooperative Living | March-April 2019
lives in Richmond). He fondly recalls his
Emmerton years.
" I grew up across the road from my
grandmother's house until we moved to
Richmond when my father became state
treasurer, " Murphy explains. " There was a
blacksmith shop behind the store on the
same side of the road where the Griffith
house is now, run by Herman Smith. It
was fascinating to watch him make shoes. "
He adds, " When I was a kid the old
Immanuel Episcopal Church building was
still there, and we would go
W. Tayloe Murphy Jr.,
a lawyer, delegate to the Virginia General
Assembly (1982-2000) and Secretary of
Natural Resources (2002-2006), lived in
Emmerton as a child until moving to Richmond
when his father became state treasurer.
inside the old, derelict building and play
the pump organ. Today, just the cemetery
remains from the old church. "
Electronics designer, history buff and
antique collector David Griffith (no
relation to the Lemoine-Griffith family)
discovered the house online while living
in Heathsville. Griffith bought the house,
in foreclosure and needing repairs, in
2011, doing much of the repairs himself.
New plumbing, electrical work and a
ductless heat pump were installed; it takes
eight outside units to heat and cool the
massive home. Griffith also added a new
front porch, transforming the house.
" I wasn't sure I was going to move here
permanently but I was fascinated with the
whole house, " Griffith explains. " I've always
said a house is the ultimate antique. "
Repairs took over a year. During that
time he met Darlene Benson of
Kilmarnock. They married in 2013 and
now make the Lemoine-Griffith House
their home. One distinctive touch - each
of the home's 50 windows is illuminated
by electric candles year-round.
" People said it was so nice to see the
old house lit up, " Griffith recalls. " At the
turn of the century, they made their own
gas here; they had a machine that used
coal to generate gas lighting for the house. "
Murphy says, " Emmerton has produced
people whose contributions went beyond
the community in which they lived ...
for example, Thomas Braxton became a
chaplain for the U.S. Congress. They had a
vision for the larger world around them. "
Griffith is more succinct: " Everybody is
so nice here ... I consider it paradise. " 
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Cooperative Living March/April 2019

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