No doubt, the first home Ambrose built was a temporary structure, intended just to get a roof over their heads. With the passage of time, to provide additional "creature comfort", he may have added onto this dwelling, or started over again with a permanent house nearby. Whatever the case, one thing does seem logical; that it was of an architecture one would expect to find in England...thatch roofs covering outer walls whose supporting inner beams are exposed. It was the style that was known by those early colonists. And certainly, with conditions being as harsh as they were, one was hardly ever of a mind to experiment. By the time of the American Revolution (almost a century and a half later), a great plantation mansion was standing on the land Ambrose Cobbs had claimed as his Headright in 1639. A painting of it now hangs in the Library of the University of Virginia. Also, even during his lifetime, the entire locale had become known as 'Cobbs' or 'Cobbs Hall', a name that was used to identify the entire surrounding area until well after the Civil War. Although Ambrose is popularly credited with being the hand that built this mansion, a basic examination of facts and circumstances indicates this is unlikely. The reasons for this position are (1) Ambrose lived only another seventeen years after obtaining title to the land, and apparently died a widower. (2) His heirs did not continue to live there, (3) The mansion seen in the popular painting is clearly of southern antebellum architecture, a style that did not take root until into the 18th century, long after Ambrose's death and the property had passed out of Cobb familypossession, and (4), The issue of family finances has to be considered.  By the time the first crop was in, the Cobbs had been in Virginia at least five years. It would hardly seem unreasonable to assume that by then the family purse was near empty, if indeed it wasn't already and they were living on credit or barter. Certainly, Ambrose was mainly occupied with the clearing and cultivation of the land; and with the planting and harvesting of the corn, rice, and tobacco that he produced. And this alone, was more than a full-time job. Further, the size of the family had increased by only two since their arrival in Virginia, the last being born in 1637, two years before they ever occupied those 350 acres that became Cobbs Hall. Therefore there was no need to greatly enlarge the accommodations, Ambrose originally provided. As long as the dwelling they did occupy held up, it seems most likely that the construction of an extravagant mansion would have been the last priority. As mentioned earlier, Ambrose may have simply added onto the original temporary dwelling, or he may have begun construction of a new house nearby. But the essential point being made is that the project of building that large home probably proceeded in phases as time and money permitted, as did many of the early colonial plantations...and that the mansion in the painting was only barely begun in Ambrose's lifetime --- if he had anything to do with it at all.

[A note of caution to researchers would be appropriate here.  The home of

Ambrose Cobb is not to be confused with the plantation of that branch of the Lee family known as the “Cobbs Hall Lees” in Northumberland County, Virginia.  The history of the Lee home is unknown, but it has been established they had no connection to the Cobbs.]

Immediately after Ambrose died (no later than January 1656), his son Robert,

acting as administrator of the estate, sold the property to one Michael Masters,

who then sold it to John and Thomas Burton, in that same year. In 1704, a son

of Thomas Burton sold "Cobbs" to John Bolling, and though the plantation and entire area continued to be known as "Cobbs", the property remained in Bolling family possession for over a hundred years. Bolling was the son of Colonel Robert Bolling and his wife Jane Rolfe, daughter of Thomas Rolfe and granddaughter of Pocahontas. A more thorough study of the Bolling family than what is done here gives rise to the belief that it was probably that family thatbuilt the mansion in the painting. During the Revolution, the property was raided by the British. The crops and outbuildings were burned, but the main house was left untouched. During the War Between the States however, the entire property was overrun and burned to the ground by Federal troops, in 1864.

The land settled by Ambrose and Ann Cobbs is now partially occupied by "Point of Rocks Park", a 188-acre athletic complex operated by Chesterfield County (Chesterfield was created from Henrico in 1749.). The park is located on Enon Church Road, about 1.5 miles south of Interstate Highway 295. An archeological survey was done of the property prior to development, and those plats and mapsare available in the Virginia State Archives. A historical marker identifies the park as being the original location of Cobbs Hall. Ambrose and Ann were most likely buried in the small cemetery that is located at the extreme northeast corner of the tract. In 1864, invading Union troops destroyed all the headstones but one (a woman not related to the Cobbs family who died in 1801). Some years later, Wyndham Robertson (1803-1888), a Bolling descendant and one-time governor of Virginia, and a direct descendant of Pocahontas, was buried at "Cobbs", and his grave is prominently marked. The cemetery is not accessible directly from the park. It can only be reached by a public street that runs parallel to the northern park boundary. It is located in a cul de sac and is surrounded by a rock wall approximately four feet in height.

 

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