Dating from the third quarter of the 19th century, and a landmark in the Mill Bridge community, Villa Franca was built for one of its most prominent citizens, Dr. Francis Neely Luckey (1823-1878). It is probable that Dr. Luckey built this house shortly after September 1859, when he acquired a tract of 292 acres. The Slave Schedule of the 1860 Census shows that he employed seven slaves, six of whom belonged to his father.

On September 25, 1861, Luckey enlisted as an assistant surgeon in the Twenty-Eighth Regiment. The following March he was appointed surgeon of the Twenty-Fifth Regiment. He was president in the Virginia campaigns and was paroled at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865. Little is known of his life in the years following the war except for his service in the General Assembly for two consecutive terms, 1870 - 1974.

In April, 1878, Dr. Luckey married Leonora Neely, he died three months later on August 8th. In September, Mrs. Luckey petitioned for her dower in the estate, noting that her late husband owned outright three tracts totaling about 873 acres. She received about 266 acres of the homestead, and a second noncontiguous tract of 51 acres. At a sale of Dr. Luckey's real and personal property, in January of 1879, his widow purchased the remainder of the home plantation.

In November of 1879, Mrs. Luckey married J. Samuel McCubbins. In 1897 the McCubbinses sold the house and farm to the Rev. Bachman Samuel Brown. Following his death, the house remained in the Brown family until 1956 when another house was constructed adjacent to the Villa Franca Estate.

The large two-story frame house is similar to its other mid 19th century contemporaries except for its tall window openings and ornamental porch which was probably a later addition. The front, west elevation has a three-bay division with its central, double door entrance sheltered by the porch. Nine-over-nine sash windows occupy the other bays and flank the brick chimneys at either gable end. The substantial rear all containing a kitchen and dining room is two bays deep.

According to family tradition, the ell's second story was added by Rev. Brown shortly after he acquired the house. The front block of the house follows a center hall plan with a room to either side. Directly behind it, in the ell, is a second, shallower hall with a service stair to the second story. The interior of the house has well-executed Greek Revival woodwork with some original staining and graining intact.