One night in 2007, Barry and Judy Hardman were watching a TV show about an old plantation house.

"I've always wanted one of those," Judy said.

"Let's go buy one," Barry replied.

So the couple - Barry, retired military; Judy, a geneticist who breeds show horses - hit the road from California, looking for their plantation home in Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia and elsewhere. They ended up just outside Warrenton in northeastern North Carolina, drove through an ornamental gate, up a gravel driveway and saw the stately white columns of the Federal-style house. "It just spoke to us," Barry says of the property known as Elgin Plantation.

The 179-year-old home began as a working plantation. It was a dowry: 3,000 acres presented to Peter Mitchell by the wealthy father of Elizabeth Person in 1824. Today's Elgin Plantation sits on 307 acres, half of it wooded, half pasture, with five ponds. The Hardmans planned on moving their horse-breeding operation there. Sadly, after a series of deaths in the family, the couple abandoned the plan and now live and work in Texas.

The Elgin Plantation is for sale. List price $2,250,000.

Barry and Judy are sad to let it go. Early during their ownership, Barry endeavored into a project. He went into Warrenton - "a beautiful little town with antique shops and restaurants" - to the county hall of records. "I wanted to find the plot of land, all the different structures, the slave cabins," Barry says. "I assumed they had a graveyard for the slaves. I wanted to clean that up, show a little respect. Ultimately I couldn't find that information."

The Hardmans never moved into their lovely plantation home. "The longest we stayed there was a month," Barry says, "enough to get the flavor of it. It was really super-peaceful. We'd sit on the back porch, have an adult beverage and watch the deer, wild turkey, all the wildlife out there. We'll miss that."

Pictures courtesy of Elgin Plantation.