The original frame farm house structure was built by Dr. Edwin Lee Smith a dentist in the early Louisa Courthouse community in the 1860 era. He purchased the land where the house now stands for $225 in 1859 and began construction the following year. It is believed that the home was also used as a field hospital for soldiers wounded in the Battle of Trevillians Station during the Civil War, locally called the "War of Northern Aggression", or "the War Between the States". Griswold Boxley often remarked that "there was NOTHING CIVIL about it" (meaning the war).
The second generation of Smiths, Dr. Walton O. Smith, was one of the first Louisa Town Council members in 1873 ( he was also a dentist. The Smith family, occupied the property until it was sold to Bruce Vaughn Boxley Sr. and Ethel Glascow Whyte Boxley in August 1913 for $6000. Also residing in the house was Dr. James Garland Boxley who had been commissioned as an assistant surgeon in the Confederate Navy and worked at the "Exchange Hotel" feild hospital in Gordonsville during the Battle of Trevillians in the Civil War .
It was through the efforts of Ethel and Bruce Vaughn Boxley Sr. directed by the Richmond architect of the Louisa Courthouse: D. Wiley Anderson that the 1918 renovations were completed. This 1918 renovation morphed the structure from the 1860 farm house to today's stately colonial revival residence .Bruce "senior" was a partner in the Boxley Brother Construction Company and Ethel was responsible for organizing the Louisa Chapter of the Daughters of the American Reveolution. The renovations must have taken several years as evidenced by the original roof tiles some of which are dated May 25, 1922. The original farm house was enhanced by adding a kitchen and bathroom, dining room wing, front and south porches that included large Ionic columns and Chinese Chippendale railings reminiscent of Jefferson's Monticello.
Electricity came early to the home as evidenced by the remaining porcelain knob and tube wiring still visible in the basement. And the 1916 photo of the "pre-renovation" Boxley Place shows the home's own water tower looking a lot like the Town of Louisa water tower.
The second generation of Boxley's to own the property was Bruce Vaughn Boxley Jr. and his wife Anna Griswold McIntosh Boxley (May). Bruce V. Boxley Jr. owned the Central Virginian newspaper and acted as it's Editor until his death in 1954. After his death, his wife Anna Gris Boxley became Editor.
Their daughter Griswold Boxley Cousins, the third generation of Boxleys, was born in this home in 1929, was married in this home in 1949 and in 2004 died here at her beloved home known as The Boxley Place. Gris, as her friends called her, worked at the Central Virginian newspaper, was a member of the Town Council and a teacher at the Louisa County High School among other accomplishments. She also spearhead a renovation and modernization of the building in the 1980's
In 2005 the fourth generation of Boxley women began a complete restoration of the residence. After being recognized as a Virginia State Landmark, then being listed by the State Department of the Interior and placed on the National Register of Historic Places, Breese Cousins Glennon and her husband Robert J. Glennon completed a comprehensive restoration. Directing the renovations was Architect Joseph F. Yates of Richmond Va. Today, after 3 years, the stately building known as The Boxley Place has been opened to the public as "the Boxley Place Inn".