
The restored house at 10700 Darby Circle is a replica of a 1730s-era house in Massachusetts. (River City Media photos)
When Okey Turner saw the colonial-style house at 10700 Darby Circle for sale in an auction, the longtime restorer knew he’d seen it before – just not in Richmond.
The 50-year-old house in Midlothian’s Huguenot Hundred neighborhood is a replica of the Ashley House, a 1730s-era dwelling in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where Turner’s sons went to school.
“I was shocked,” Turner said of the resemblance. “I’d see this house all the time. The front of the house is an exact copy.
“I went, ‘This looks familiar to me,’ and it turns out it was the Rev. Jonathan Ashley House. Who would guess it would end up in Richmond, Virginia?”
In need of a place to stay – and a new project – while his daughter studied with the Richmond Ballet, Turner purchased the house in 2021 with help from Lee Hutchinson, an agent with Long & Foster’s Strum Group.
Turner paid $575,000 for the worn-down house and set about bringing it back to its original glory, but in keeping with the 18th-century house that inspired it.
Three years later, he’s completed the renovation. And with his daughter now at another ballet school in Northern Virginia, he’s put the house up for sale with a $1.8 million price tag, listing it with Hutchinson and team leader James Strum.

Turner, right, in the home’s living room with Strum Group’s Lee Hutchinson, center, and Paul Owens. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
Totaling 7,000 square feet with six bedrooms and 4½ bathrooms, the four-level house is on a 2-acre lot near Cherokee Road and in walking distance to the river and nearby Trinity Episcopal School.
Chesterfield County has assessed the property at just over $1 million.
The house is the latest of over 50 homes that Turner said he has restored on his own or for others, most of those in Northern Virginia’s Middleburg area, where he and his wife have lived for 30 years and keep another residence.
Built in 1974, the Darby Circle house was the residence of Floyd and Jane Farleigh, a local financial adviser and real estate agent, respectively. Floyd, known as “Booty,” was a history buff with an interest in the Revolutionary War period, Turner said.
The Farleighs, now deceased, entertained often, Turner said, hence the home’s blend of 1700s architecture and 1970s accommodations. Where the formal rooms recall Colonial Williamsburg, the kitchen, laundry room and en suite bathrooms are contemporary and equipped with modern conveniences.
“It was built in a much better way than most 1970s houses,” Turner said. “They used everything that was in a traditional way: all the great wood paneling; the floors are all reclaimed wood from a tobacco barn. They did a lot of really nice woodworking details, but they were in really bad shape.”
Pulling from his experience and art school background, Turner restored the rooms and added period-appropriate light fixtures and other finishes – many of them sourced from Europe – while also adding modern-day bathtubs, showers and sleek surfaces to the bathrooms. The older looking rooms required a delicate touch, he said.
“All the floors were rejuvenated, not sanded,” he said. “Everything has to be done by hand with these kinds of floors. They were all hand-waxed and stained. If you sand floors like this, it takes all the character out of it.”
Turner also added museum-quality storm windows from Allied Window Inc., wallpaper imported from England, and enclosed the home’s breezeway to create laundry and sitting rooms. A room above the garage was turned into a utility room with updated systems. The house also includes an all-floor elevator.
The house was listed late last month, and Hutchinson and Strum started showings last week. Hutchinson said initial response was strong with a week’s worth of showings lined up. The agents also are marketing the home via Forbes Global Properties.
Originally from New York, Turner got into restoring homes in his 20s while living in Philadelphia.
“I was able to buy an old, run-down house. I fixed it up and sold it and never stopped,” he said. Laughing, Turner added, “My first house was less expensive than the refrigerator here!”
Over the course of the renovation, Turner split his time between the house and his residence in Middleburg, while at the same time restoring an apartment in New York City that he inherited.
While he’s selling his Richmond home, Turner, 73, said he’s not done yet and keeping an eye out for his next project, potentially in Richmond.
“Actually, I have a house I really like, but my wife won’t let me (buy it),” he said.
The listing isn’t the first for Hutchinson and Strum with touches of history. Two years ago, they listed the 1880s-era house at 8614 Rockaway Road for seller Jim Courtney after he wrapped up a seven-year restoration. The Victorian-style house, beside the Old Bon Air Hotel Apartments building, sold just above list price at $900,000.
Correction: Ashley House is located in Deerfield, Massachusetts, not in Connecticut.

The restored house at 10700 Darby Circle is a replica of a 1730s-era house in Massachusetts. (River City Media photos)
When Okey Turner saw the colonial-style house at 10700 Darby Circle for sale in an auction, the longtime restorer knew he’d seen it before – just not in Richmond.
The 50-year-old house in Midlothian’s Huguenot Hundred neighborhood is a replica of the Ashley House, a 1730s-era dwelling in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where Turner’s sons went to school.
“I was shocked,” Turner said of the resemblance. “I’d see this house all the time. The front of the house is an exact copy.
“I went, ‘This looks familiar to me,’ and it turns out it was the Rev. Jonathan Ashley House. Who would guess it would end up in Richmond, Virginia?”
In need of a place to stay – and a new project – while his daughter studied with the Richmond Ballet, Turner purchased the house in 2021 with help from Lee Hutchinson, an agent with Long & Foster’s Strum Group.
Turner paid $575,000 for the worn-down house and set about bringing it back to its original glory, but in keeping with the 18th-century house that inspired it.
Three years later, he’s completed the renovation. And with his daughter now at another ballet school in Northern Virginia, he’s put the house up for sale with a $1.8 million price tag, listing it with Hutchinson and team leader James Strum.

Turner, right, in the home’s living room with Strum Group’s Lee Hutchinson, center, and Paul Owens. (Jonathan Spiers photo)
Totaling 7,000 square feet with six bedrooms and 4½ bathrooms, the four-level house is on a 2-acre lot near Cherokee Road and in walking distance to the river and nearby Trinity Episcopal School.
Chesterfield County has assessed the property at just over $1 million.
The house is the latest of over 50 homes that Turner said he has restored on his own or for others, most of those in Northern Virginia’s Middleburg area, where he and his wife have lived for 30 years and keep another residence.
Built in 1974, the Darby Circle house was the residence of Floyd and Jane Farleigh, a local financial adviser and real estate agent, respectively. Floyd, known as “Booty,” was a history buff with an interest in the Revolutionary War period, Turner said.
The Farleighs, now deceased, entertained often, Turner said, hence the home’s blend of 1700s architecture and 1970s accommodations. Where the formal rooms recall Colonial Williamsburg, the kitchen, laundry room and en suite bathrooms are contemporary and equipped with modern conveniences.
“It was built in a much better way than most 1970s houses,” Turner said. “They used everything that was in a traditional way: all the great wood paneling; the floors are all reclaimed wood from a tobacco barn. They did a lot of really nice woodworking details, but they were in really bad shape.”
Pulling from his experience and art school background, Turner restored the rooms and added period-appropriate light fixtures and other finishes – many of them sourced from Europe – while also adding modern-day bathtubs, showers and sleek surfaces to the bathrooms. The older looking rooms required a delicate touch, he said.
“All the floors were rejuvenated, not sanded,” he said. “Everything has to be done by hand with these kinds of floors. They were all hand-waxed and stained. If you sand floors like this, it takes all the character out of it.”
Turner also added museum-quality storm windows from Allied Window Inc., wallpaper imported from England, and enclosed the home’s breezeway to create laundry and sitting rooms. A room above the garage was turned into a utility room with updated systems. The house also includes an all-floor elevator.
The house was listed late last month, and Hutchinson and Strum started showings last week. Hutchinson said initial response was strong with a week’s worth of showings lined up. The agents also are marketing the home via Forbes Global Properties.
Originally from New York, Turner got into restoring homes in his 20s while living in Philadelphia.
“I was able to buy an old, run-down house. I fixed it up and sold it and never stopped,” he said. Laughing, Turner added, “My first house was less expensive than the refrigerator here!”
Over the course of the renovation, Turner split his time between the house and his residence in Middleburg, while at the same time restoring an apartment in New York City that he inherited.
While he’s selling his Richmond home, Turner, 73, said he’s not done yet and keeping an eye out for his next project, potentially in Richmond.
“Actually, I have a house I really like, but my wife won’t let me (buy it),” he said.
The listing isn’t the first for Hutchinson and Strum with touches of history. Two years ago, they listed the 1880s-era house at 8614 Rockaway Road for seller Jim Courtney after he wrapped up a seven-year restoration. The Victorian-style house, beside the Old Bon Air Hotel Apartments building, sold just above list price at $900,000.
Correction: Ashley House is located in Deerfield, Massachusetts, not in Connecticut.
What a beautiful house! We need more Okey Turners in this world.