The roots of the Fearrington Family in Chatham County can be traced back to the 1770s. The land which later became Fearrington Village was originally purchased in 1786 by William Cole, Sr. for $80. The land passed through the generations and acquired the Fearrington name when it was inherited by Cole's granddaughter and her husband, Edwin H. Fearrington, in 1859.

Edwin's son, John Bunyon Fearrington, re-built the Fearrington family homestead in 1927 near US 15-501, where it stands today as the Fearrington House Restaurant. John turned the Fearrington property into a dairy farm in the 1930s, and the land continued to be used for that purpose for the next 30 years. In the late 1960s, John's son Jesse and his wife Willa began looking for a buyer for the 1500 acre farm who would preserve the historic values and qualities which had made it such an important part of Chatham County for so many years. They found who they were looking for in R.B. and Jenny Fitch. More about R.B. and Jenny>>