MYSTIC
Ice House
Leesburg, United States
In winter this building was filled with ice cut from the Potomac River. The tick stone walls and many layers of straw provided sufficient insulation to preserve a supply of ice for summer use. When the family needed ice, large chucks were retrieved from under the straw and taken to the house.<br><br>The ice house was probably built sometime between 1876 and 1889. It remained in use until the mid-1930s and was restored by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority in 1983.