Ben Dover (Manakin-Sabot, Virginia)

Ben Dover
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district
Virginia Landmarks Register
Property entrance
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Location	661 River Rd. W #36, Manakin-Sabot, Virginia
Coordinates	37°36′24″N77°44′39″W / 37.60667°N 77.74417°W / 37.60667; -77.74417
Area	193.9 acres (78.5 ha)
Built	1853 (1853)
Architectural style	Italianate, Colonial Revival
NRHP reference No.	00000311 [1]
VLR No.	037-0078
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	April 14, 2000
Designated VLR	June 17, 1998 [2]

Ben Dover, also known as Ben Dover Farm, is a historic home and plantation complex, recognized as a national historic district, located near Manakin-Sabot in Goochland County, Virginia, United States. The district encompasses 13 contributing buildings, 8 contributing sites, and 10 contributing structures.

Site

The main dwelling was built in 1853 as a villa or the Big House of the plantation, in an Italianate style. When renovated in 1930, it was transformed when given a Colonial Revival facade to mask decades of deterioration and poor patchwork.

Contributing buildings, many of later construction, include tenant houses, a converted servants quarters (former slave quarters), a garage, a number of barns and sheds, a bowling alley, a smokehouse, and a stable. Contributing structures include three water towers, two well houses, animal feeders, a chicken coop, a silo and a swimming pool. The eight sites include stone foundations or sites of buildings no longer standing. Among these sites are two ruinous barns, a bridge ruin, an old road trace, and remains of landscape terracing. Together they represent the evolution of the Virginia plantation from the mid-19th century to the present day farm. ^[3]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000. ^[1]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
3. Heather M. MacIntosh (January 1998). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Ben Dover" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo