What’s happening at the Warren Heritage Society – Warren Heritage Day September 25th

Located in the Front Royal Historic District, Balthis House is a vernacular Federal-style townhouse of the late 18th/early 19th century and a rare surviving example of its type in Front Royal.

Local history holds that the Balthis House is the oldest surviving structure on Chester Street, the oldest street in Front Royal. The kitchen dependency is reported to be the only surviving example of a detached kitchen in the town. The original frame section of house dates to 1787-1802 and was owned or built on property owned by two of the Trustees named in the 1788 charter incorporating the Town of Front Royal. Previous owners of the property also include a revolutionary war hero, a famed local educator, a family of blacksmiths and a family of plumbers.

By 1838, when the Balthis family bought the property, Front Royal was a prospering center for wagon manufacture serving the Southern and Western States. The property served dual purposes as the family’s residence and place of business. As a successful family of blacksmiths, the Balthis family was part of the emerging middle-class in the mid 19th century and it was during their ownership that the two surviving additions were made to the house.

Warren Heritage Day 2021

Come enjoy Front Royal at its best. Arts and crafts abound in the heart of our historic district. Come enjoy Heritage Square on the grounds of the Warren Heritage Society at 101 Chester Street where you will find museums, tours of our historic homes – Belle Boyd Cottage (Front Royal home of Confederate spy Belle Boyd) and 18th-century Balthis House – and their outbuildings, re-enactors, living history demonstrations, craftspeople, and apple butter making, to name a few. A day of fun for all ages, Saturday, September 25, 2021, from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you at Heritage Day!