The ancestral home of Phyllis Boyd is likely Beaufort County’s best-kept secret.

Situated at the end of a long, dirt lane off of Robersonville Road, history comes alive at Bellefont Plantation — built between 1760 and 1790 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Originally the home of Major Reading Blount, a Revolutionary War hero, it was purchased in 1860 by John Grey and Mary Stancill Hodges. It’s been passed down through the Hodges family since.

The home is not overly large — it has a simple layout: the original structure had four airy rooms over another four bedrooms upstairs, with an attic running the length of the structure above and a two-room root cellar below. Local pine abounds in its construction, in its floors and high wainscoting that reaches up the stairwell into the upstairs hall — all of it unpainted. Outside, the original smokehouse still stands and, while the original construction would have meant the kitchen was a separate structure to the rear of the home, Boyd believes that during her great-grandparents’ ownership, the kitchen was absorbed into the house by new construction.

By far, the most fascinating piece of the colonial home is its 19-foot wide chimney boasting four fireplaces — two in rooms downstairs and two in bedrooms upstairs — with cabinetry built inside the chimney wall.

Just as a few antiques still peppering the home have passed down through the generations, so have the stories, according to Boyd. After the Civil War Battle of Tranter’s Creek, Union soldiers carrying their wounded and dead back to Washington liberated horses and food from Bellefont Plantation’s occupants — Mary Stancill Hodges, her baby boy, and her mother-in-law were the only ones in residence. And because of a clever woodwork design, soldiers neglected to find a gun cabinet in one of the downstairs rooms, allowing the women to hold on to the weapons it hid.

Bellefont Plantation’s long and rich history is evident, from the moment one turns onto the lane, and that history recently captured the attention of treasure hunters from National Geographic. Last year, Boyd was approached by producers of the National Geographic channel’s show “Diggers,” a show centered on unearthing bits of history in historic places across the country. In October, the stars of the show and a film crew showed up at Bellefont Plantation to see what treasures they could find.

“It was really fun to watch. I was inside and I would look out the windows and at one point I saw them give each other ‘high-fives.’ I was thinking they must have found something good,” she laughed.

Boyd is not at liberty to say what the “Diggers” crew found, but the show is set to air tonight at 10 p.m. and Saturday at 12 a.m. on the National Geographic Channel — an episode called “Blackbeard’s Treasure.” According to the show’s website, three North Carolina sites were visited in an attempt to trace the notorious pirate’s last days.

While the show shines a brief spotlight on Bellefont, the plantation home is actually well known in other circles: by event planners, prospective brides and those seeking a unique place to host a party. But it was a quirk of fate that turned the ancestral home into an event venue.

Of the 20 Hodges grandchildren scattered far and wide across the country, Boyd became the guardian of Bellefont — she and her husband, Grover, took ownership in the mid-1990s. But it wasn’t until 2003, after a series of renters had lived in the home that she recognized the opportunity to give Bellefont new life, and new purpose, when a friend was searching for a place to have a party.

“When someone asked me if they could use my house for a party, it just sort of evolved from there,” Boyd said. “I just wanted to save the house.”

Now, roughly twice a month, partygoers and wedding guests get to step back in time to Beaufort County’s colonial past. Bellefont Plantation’s only advertising may be a website, but word of mouth is likely more effective.

Boyd’s family still lives on the plantation’s land — what was once a 5,000-acre stronghold, but is considerably smaller now. She’s never lived there, but she doesn’t rule out eventually making the move down the road. However, with the many events she hosts, actually moving in may not be necessary.

“I feel like I’m over here so much that I do live here,” she laughed.

For more information about Bellefont Plantation or renting it for an event, visit www.bellefontplantationhouse.com.