From counterculture to Rappahannock’s matriarchs: Meet some of the 70s free spirits who still call county home

‘We never identified ourselves as hippies’ 

Many of the women who moved here during what some Rappahannock locals called the “hippie invasion” in the 1970s — a movement of peace, love and free-spirited lifestyles — stayed on. 

Over the decade, communes like “Spyder Mountain” in Sperryville, Black Rock Farm in Flint Hill and rundown tenant houses at Eldon Farms in Woodville became home to hundreds of the newcomers — a lot of them young women seeking independence and a fresh vision for their futures. 

Woodard wedding in 1977 (Photo/Henry and Francie Eastwood)

They overcame the challenges of subsistence living, grew their own food, fixed their own cars, established relationships, had children and maintained households. A new wave of feminism — the Women’s Liberation Movement —  had taken root. 

As the years went on, some became skilled artisans, teachers, business entrepreneurs and entered other professions. 

In short they made, and continue to make, lasting contributions to the Rappahannock community, as they recall times gone by.

Here are some of their stories.

Cathy Kiley Martin, 78, gardener, landscaper lives in Woodville. 

In 1973, disenchanted with city life, she moved from Washington, D.C. to Eldon Farms in Woodville with her son and boyfriend.

“There was a wonderful simplicity of living in an old log cabin, fetching drinking water from a spring, chopping wood for the stove and sitting on the porch watching fireflies,” said Martin.

“And we had fun. I remember Pices parties, Devils in the Woods parties, music and dance parties, skinny-dipping in the rivers. Our community was so special and appreciative of this beautiful pastoral place.

“There was a special bond among the women living here. Although some labeled us ‘hippies,’ we never identified ourselves as hippies. We were strong, independent and very conscious about feminism. It was a window in time when we were very free and did not feel judged. We didn’t need a lot of money, we were happy being close to nature, and we had each other,” she said.

Maureen “Mo” Day, 68, actor, choreographer, musician, artist lives in Sperryville. In 1968, when she was 11, she moved from Fauquier County to Rappahannock with her mother and eight siblings.

“Growing up in a big family, I think I was predisposed to community living,” Day said.

After graduating Rappahannock County High School in 1975, she eventually joined the commune at Spyder’s Mountain. “Walking up there, still in my teens, seeing people in the garden, playing music on the porch, everybody almost naked, it left a big impression on me.

“The women who lived at Spyder’s and other places in the county first exposed me to feminism. I recall there was a wellness group of about 30 women gathered to discuss themes about women’s health and sexuality based on the then popular books like ‘Our Bodies, Ourselves’.” 

“Witnessing a home childbirth in a tent when I was 18 gave me the confidence to pursue natural births for my children. All of these experiences were edifying, empowering, mind blowing and mind opening. Many of the things I internalized during that time are still true to me,” Day said.

Patricia Brennan, 70, stained glass artist, lives in Sperryville. Moved to Rappahannock from Colorado in 1980.

“Visiting friends here during the 1970s, I fell in love with the place, especially the night sky,” she said. “I moved into a little cabin with my daughter at the foot of Old Rag. It had a hand pump, outhouse and plenty of black snakes.”

Brennan met Don Mullan working at a health food store in Culpeper, and soon they were married. They lived at Spyder Mountain on Pickerel Ridge near the Shenandoah National Park, where he founded a commune in 1973, named after musician David Bowie’s album “Spiders from Mars.” 

“For a time we had no running water, electricity or phone — it was not for the faint of heart. Don was selling firewood while adding on to the house to accommodate our expanding family. I was raising the kids, working at a restaurant and running my stained glass studio. It was a simple life, a lot of work, but you went to bed tired and happy,” said Brennan.

Bethany Carman Craig, 74, educator, lives in Madison County. Moved to Rappahannock in 1973 from Brooklyn, N.Y.

“My friend, Sam Cliffton, heard about Rappahannock from a friend and right after college we moved to a little house on Eldon Farms. We were lucky in that it had running water.

“It was inexpensive to live here and many of us worked odd jobs, creating craft art, sewing and growing vegetables,” Craig said. “We had all night parties, local music, and an alternative lifestyle that was sometimes received with skepticism from the local residents.” 

In 1981, she moved to Spyder Mountain, married Arthur Craig in 1983 and started a family.

 “Families were growing on Spyder Mountain, so in 1986 I decided to start a playgroup in my house,” she said. “A year later we formed what became Spring Mountain School, a Waldorf initiative. It later moved to the old Washington School. When it closed in 1996, the parents of Spring Mountain formed a parent cooperative which later became Hearthstone School.”  

Linda Heimstra, 70, artist, musician, painter, lives near Etlan, Va. Moved to Rappahannock from Alexandria, Va. in 1974, a week before she turned 21.

“I got an invitation to live in Hawlin near Woodville with a group of hippies,” she said. “I hitched a ride, stayed there about a week and then moved into an old log cabin at Black Rock Farm in Flint Hill with a new found friend. I was a bit of a free spirit in those days.

“A big hang out was an old drive-in movie theatre near Massies Corner now occupied by Garcia’s Tree and Landscaping Service. We cooked up delicious food, watched movies and played volleyball there,” she said.

“Another was a community center on Fodderstack Road at the edge of Washington where we’d hold dances there with bands like ‘The Okays.’ The dancers would get so wild the floor would bounce,” she said.

“Being a single woman out here was empowering. It was all about being self-sufficient. You learned how to do all kinds of things like car repairs, hunting for mushrooms and making jam,” she said.

Nancy Soule, 74, retired nurse, lives in Culpeper. Moved to Spyder’s Mountain with her boyfriend in 1973 from Colorado.

“We lived with a group of women and men in a small three bedroom house where each of us paid just a few dollars in rent each year,” she said. “It was a wild time. There was a pond up our long driveway where a lot of us would go skinny-dipping.         

“Crafts were a big part of the scene,” she said. “Most of the people there made leather goods, jewelry, did copper and metal work and sold their wares at craft shows.” 

After Soule’s two children were born, she and her husband George, fixed up an old rustic barn on the property. “I was alone with the kids one night and the wood stove started smoking because the jerry-rigged chimney fell over. I gathered up the kids, and in 15 degree weather, walked down the long road to a neighbors to phone George. We got a phone installed after that.”

Carolyn Roth, 75, artist, educator, chef, lives in Flint Hill. After completing her degree in early childhood education in 1973, Roth moved from Ann Arbor, Mich. to Woodville. 

“I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do so I put a letter in the contact section in Mother Earth News,” Roth said. “Surprisingly, I got a response from a fellow named ‘Freeman’ who lived at Eldon Farms. 

“Turned out we had the same birthday. After a few letter exchanges, I felt moving there was meant to be. It wasn’t a cushy life, having to chop wood for heat and use an outhouse, but my rent was only $25 a month,” she said.

Roth’s parents leaned on her to return home, but were unsuccessful. “They came to visit once, and were surprised, to say the least, to see my living conditions. It didn’t go well.  

“Life at Eldon gave me the opportunity to explore and develop my own identity. To this day I carry forward with my beliefs and the worldview I forged from that experience,” she said.

Jane Mullan, 68, educator, board president and director, Hearthstone School. Moved to Spyder’s Mountain from Baltimore in 1975.

“The first few years on the mountain I lived in a tent,” she said. “I wanted to live close to nature, live from my heart, deepen myself spiritually and live in a community of like-minded people. 

“A little later my husband built a tiny house on the property where our son, Aron was born. I think eight babies were born on Spyder’s around that time, most delivered by midwives,” said Mullan.

“All these young kids prompted me and Bethany Craig to start Spring Mountain School in 1987 which served a lot of the young ‘back to the land’ families. A few years later it was reorganized into today’s Hearthstone School in Sperryville where I’m still the director,” she said. 

Mullan also started “Project Rainbow” in 1987, a nonprofit she ran for 32 years that helped chronically ill children and adults. The project, funded by private contributions, assisted people with home and hospice care, medical expenses and transportation.

Cheri Woodard, 74, entrepreneur, real estate broker, lives in Sperryville. Moved to Black Rock Farm from College Park, Md. in 1974.

“In the early 1970s I worked at a natural foods store in College Park,” she said. “One day a group of women living at Black Rock Farm in Flint Hill showed up and invited me to come live with them. I was into nature, and my life was in transition, so I decided to move there with my son.”

Woodard recalled being a member of the “Last Minute Wood Company,” a dance group organized by a talented choreographer, Sally Nash. “The group got its name because we were always scrambling to get firewood for the stoves.

“We became quite accomplished, toured around the region and even got a big review in The Washington Post,” she said.

Woodville herbalist and gardener Flossie Williams befriended Woodard in her early days and inspired her to start the Faith Mountain store and mail order business. Woodard is now a top real estate broker in Rappahannock.