179 Sheppard Rd

A 1995 log cabin on 20.97 acres south of Stuart in Patrick County, 825 square feet with one bedroom, one full bath and a sleeping loft, listed at $205,000 and sold furnished. The listing describes a bold creek running through the property, a smaller stream along one side, a mix of pasture and mature woods, and a rocking-chair front porch. It also says the well sits on the adjoining property and that this parcel has deeded water rights to it, which is the thing to understand before anything else. The parcel sold for $128,000 in 2014, and all offers were due by 5:00 p.m. on September 7.

The land and setting

The listing gives 20.97 acres of surveyed land and names one parcel, 47080011. Patrick County records that parcel at 913,453 square feet, 20.97 acres, with a legal description reading “PETERS CR I#040003389 I#080002536”. The two agree exactly.

The plat among the listing photos shows a triangular parcel with the creek running north to south through the middle of it and a second, smaller stream along the southeast edge, which matches the remarks. Sheppard Road meets the parcel at its western point.

The creek is Peters Creek by the legal description, and it is in the photos: running over rock under the trees, beside the pasture, and crossed by a wooden footbridge. The smaller stream appears too, as a rocky bed in the woods.

The aerials show a long open strip of pasture running between two blocks of timber, with the cabin tucked into the woods at one end. The listing says horses can be raised and that there is room for food plots. Wildlife named is deer, turkey and bear.

The listing does not give a road surface type, and does not say whether Sheppard Road is state maintained or private, who plows or grades it, or how far the cabin sits from the pavement.

The cabin

Built in 1995, 825 square feet, log construction on a permanent foundation under a metal roof, with a crawl space that has its own exterior entry. One bedroom on the main level, one full bath, and a sleeping loft above the great room. There is no garage.

Inside is an open kitchen and family room under a cathedral ceiling, with wood and vinyl floors, ceiling fans, double pane windows and storm doors. Heating is a wall furnace, cooling is window units, and the listing gives no fireplace.

Appliances listed are a gas range, refrigerator, microwave, washer, dryer, window air conditioner, electric water heater and exhaust fan, all sold as is. The remarks describe a stackable washer and dryer. The home is sold furnished with the exception of a few personal items.

The bath is a full one: sink, toilet and a shower stall, with the wall heater on the wall above. The main level bedroom holds a bed and dresser, and the loft holds two beds under the sloped roof, reached from the great room.

Exterior features list a deck, a porch and a balcony. The photos show the deck with rocking chairs on it. Additional structures are listed as Outbuilding, and one storage shed appears at the edge of the trees.

The facts

What to know before you call

The well is on someone else’s land. The listing says so directly: the well is located on the adjoining property, and this parcel has deeded water rights. That means your water depends on a well you do not own, on land you do not control, under a right written into a deed. Ask to read the deed language before you offer. Who maintains the well and the line, who pays when the pump fails, what happens if the neighbor sells or wants to drill their own, and whether the right runs with the land or with the current owner are all questions the listing does not answer. A lender’s title review will ask them too, and a title company should confirm the easement is recorded and unbroken.

The agent phone is not printed where it should be. Zillow’s attribution field gives Sarah Clark a number, 804-517-9004. Its own “Listed by” line shows her with no number, puts 276-694-5002 on the brokerage, and adds Margaret Blevins as a second agent. Under our rule, a number that appears only in an attribution field goes in as Not listed, so call the office and ask for either agent.

The taxes look low for the price, and Virginia does not reset them at sale. The bill is $629 on an assessed value of $86,100, which has not moved since 2021. Virginia has no Proposal A style uncapping: a sale does not trigger a reassessment. Assessments move on the county’s general reassessment cycle, and the county record shows the land was last appraised in 2014. A $205,000 sale against an $86,100 assessment is exactly the kind of gap a general reassessment closes. Ask the Patrick County commissioner of the revenue when the next reassessment is due and what the current rate would produce on a value near the sale price.

The price is 60 percent over the 2014 sale. It sold for $128,000 in September 2014 and is listed now at $205,000. Redfin’s history also shows it listed at $225,000 in early 2011 and cut to $129,900 that December before the 2014 sale. Nothing in the listing describes work done since. Ask what has been updated in twelve years, because a 1995 log cabin sold as is with a wall furnace and window units may need a roof, a septic pump and a furnace on a schedule you should know before you pay for it.

The offer deadline has probably passed by the time you read this. The remarks set 5:00 p.m. on September 7, 2026, for all offers, with review after that. If you are reading this later, call before you assume it is under contract, because a reviewed offer is not an accepted one.

A balcony is listed and does not appear. Exterior features read Deck, Porch and Balcony. The photos show a deck with rocking chairs and a covered porch. The loft has a rail over the great room, which is inside. Ask what the balcony is, because if it is an upper deck that is not in the photos, that is a structure to inspect, and if it is the loft rail, the field is wrong.

Access is not described. Sheppard Road reaches the parcel at its western point on the plat, and the listing gives no road surface, no maintenance arrangement and no distance from the pavement. In Virginia the difference between a state secondary route and a private road is the difference between VDOT grading and plowing it and you doing it. Ask which this is, and whether the drive from the road to the cabin is on this parcel or crosses the neighbor’s.

The septic is stated but not documented. Sewer is a septic tank, with no date, permit, size or inspection given. On a cabin of this age with a full bath and a washer, ask the Patrick County health department for the permit record and have it inspected before closing.

The outbuilding and the crawl space are worth asking about. One shed appears in the photos and is listed as Outbuilding. The crawl space has an exterior entry. Ask whether the shed was permitted and whether it conveys, and have the crawl space looked at, since log cabins on crawl spaces near creeks are where moisture problems live.

Nothing says whether it floods. Flood zone is not listed. The creek runs through the middle of the parcel and the plat shows the cabin end of the triangle near it. Ask for the FEMA map panel and whether the cabin sits in a flood zone, because that decides both insurance and whether a lender will write on it.

The photos are small. The listing published 39 photos at 792 pixels wide, which is what the MLS holds. We used 35 of them. They show the cabin inside and out, the creek, the footbridge, the pasture, the shed, the plat and an outlined aerial, but they will not enlarge well.

You can see everything else we have listed on the properties page. In the same state we have a 1910 farmhouse with a country store on Poplar Creek in Ferrum, and at a similar price a knotty pine cabin on 2.5 acres near Grayling, Michigan.

To ask about this one, call Edd Martin and Associates on 276-694-5002 and ask for Sarah Clark or Margaret Blevins, and reference MLS 150565. Tell them where you saw it.