Lewis Farm

Last updated
Lewis Farm
Lewis Farm.JPG
USA Virginia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location 1201 Jefferson St., Charlottesville, Virginia
Coordinates 38°1′44″N78°28′8″W / 38.02889°N 78.46889°W / 38.02889; -78.46889 Coordinates: 38°1′44″N78°28′8″W / 38.02889°N 78.46889°W / 38.02889; -78.46889
Area 1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built 1826 (1826)
Built by Phillips, William B.; Crawford, Malcolm F.
Architectural style Jeffersonian
MPS Charlottesville MRA
NRHP reference # 82001807 [1]
VLR # 104-0002
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 21, 1982
Designated VLR October 20, 1981, March 20, 1996 [2]

The historic home listed as Lewis Farm, also known as The Farm and John A. G. Davis Farm, is located at Charlottesville, Virginia. It was built in 1826, and is a two-story brick dwelling with a low hipped roof and two large chimneys. On the front facade is a Tuscan order portico with a terrace above. The house was built by individuals who worked with Thomas Jefferson on building the University of Virginia. [3] [4] Its builder, John A. G. Davis, was law professor at the University of Virginia and was shot and killed outside Pavilion X by a student in 1840. During the American Civil War, Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer set up temporary headquarters at the house where he remained for three days. [5]

Charlottesville, Virginia Independent city in Virginia, United States

Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville and officially named the City of Charlottesville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. This means a resident will list Charlottesville as both their county and city on official paperwork. It is named after the British Queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who as the wife of George III was Virginia's last Queen. In 2016, an estimated 46,912 people lived within the city limits. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the City of Charlottesville with Albemarle County for statistical purposes, bringing its population to approximately 150,000. Charlottesville is the heart of the Charlottesville metropolitan area, which includes Albemarle, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Greene, and Nelson counties.

Tuscan order

The Tuscan order is in effect a simplified Doric order, with un-fluted columns and a simpler entablature with no triglyphs or guttae. While relatively simple columns with round capitals had been part of the vernacular architecture of Italy and much of Europe since at least Etruscan architecture, the Romans did not consider this style to be a distinct architectural order. Instead the Tuscan order, presented as a standardized formal order, is an invention of Italian Renaissance writers largely motivated by nationalism.

Portico Type of porch

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultures, including most Western cultures.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. [1]

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

History

In 1735, Nicholas Meriwether obtained patents from King George III to approximately 19,000 acres in Albemarle County east of Charlottesville. One parcel of 1020 acres was located west of the Rivanna River, the area which now is the Locust Grove and Belmont neighborhoods. It became known as "The Farm" because it was the one cleared area in a virgin forest.

Col. Nicholas Meriwether was a wealthy land owner of Colony of Virginia.

A main house and out buildings were built at "The Farm" on the hill facing the river to the east. The house burned after a couple of decades. Nicholas Lewis, grandson of Meriwether, inherited the property in 1762 and built another main house facing the river around 1770. Nicholas Lewis (1734-1808) was an Albemarle County landowner and friend of Thomas Jefferson. Lewis was also an officer in the American Revolution, a County magistrate, Surveyor, and Sheriff. After the death of Nicholas Meriwether, his grandfather, in 1744, Lewis inherited The Farm, 1,020 acres on both sides of the Rivanna River east of Charlottesville. The estate was the headquarters of British Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, who occupied Charlottesville for a day in 1781 to pursue Jefferson and the rest of the Virginian legislators.

It was described as a place of beauty surrounded by a garden of roses, shrubs and fine fruit. It could have been built on or near the foundations for the first house. A listing in The Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia records from 1805 may describe the house. It was a wooden dwelling two stories high, 48 feet long and 22 feet wide. There is an active spring down the hill a couple of hundred yards to the south. All that remains is the kitchen or cook's house. It now is in the middle of a middle class housing subdivision facing Twelfth Street. It is still surrounded by mature hardwood trees and retains its view of Monticello. Nicholas Lewis was buried on his property in a cemetery on a hilltop overlooking the river where his gravestone says January 19, 1734 to December 8, 1808. [6] [7]

Related Research Articles

Fluvanna County, Virginia County in the United States

Fluvanna County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,691. Its county seat is Palmyra.

Albemarle County, Virginia County in the United States

Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of Albemarle County was 98,970, more than triple the 1960 census count.

Lake Monticello, Virginia Census-designated place in Virginia, United States

Lake Monticello, a private gated community, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fluvanna County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,920 at the 2010 census, an increase of over 44% from 2000. The community is centered on a lake of the same name, which is formed by a dam on a short tributary of the nearby Rivanna River. Lake Monticello is part of the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lake Monticello was developed in the 1960s as a summer vacation home community but quickly evolved into a bedroom community of Charlottesville, and to a smaller extent of Richmond. It also has a sizable retirement age population.

Randolph Jefferson was the younger brother of Thomas Jefferson and a planter.

Martha Jefferson Randolph Acting First Lady of the United States

Martha Jefferson "Patsy" Randolph was the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, and his wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. She was born at Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia.

Lucy Jefferson Lewis, née Lucy Jefferson was a younger sister of United States President Thomas Jefferson and the wife of Charles Lilburn Lewis.

Shadwell, Virginia CDP in Virginia, United States

Shadwell is a census-designated place (CDP) in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States, located by the Rivanna River near Charlottesville. The birthplace of Thomas Jefferson, it was named for the Shadwell parish in London by his father, Peter Jefferson, a colonist and planter in central Virginia. Shadwell is the parish where his wife Jane Randolph had been christened. Peter Jefferson and Jane Randolph had six children, among them Thomas, who would become the third president of the United States. Active in county meetings Peter was appointed Justice of the Peace of Albemarle county, taking his oath in September 1744. The following month he was appointed lieutenant colonel to the Albemarle county militia.

Rivanna River river in the United States of America

The Rivanna River is a 42.1-mile-long (67.8 km) tributary of the James River in central Virginia in the United States. The Rivanna's tributaries originate in the Blue Ridge Mountains; via the James River, it is part of the watershed of Chesapeake Bay.

Virginia State Route 53 highway in Virginia

State Route 53 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. Known as Thomas Jefferson Parkway, the state highway runs 18.32 miles (29.48 km) from SR 20 near Charlottesville east to U.S. Route 15 in Palmyra. SR 53 connects the county seats of Albemarle and Fluvanna counties. The state highway also provides access to the community of Lake Monticello and Monticello, the estate of Thomas Jefferson. The route of SR 53 became a state highway in 1930; the highway receives its present designation in 1947.

Castle Hill (Virginia) human settlement in Virginia, United States of America

Castle Hill (Virginia) is an historic, privately owned, 600-acre plantation located at the foot of the Southwest Mountains in Albemarle County, Virginia, near Monticello and the city of Charlottesville, and is recognized by the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Castle Hill was the beloved home of Dr. Thomas Walker (1715–1794) and his wife, Mildred Thornton Meriwether. Walker was a close friend and the physician of Peter Jefferson, and later the guardian of young Thomas Jefferson after his father's death.

Advance Mills, Virginia Unincorporated community in Virginia, United States

Advance Mills, also known as Fray's Mill, is an unincorporated community in Albemarle County, Virginia.

Frascati (Somerset, Virginia) human settlement in Virginia, United States of America

Frascati is an early 19th-century Federal-style plantation house near Somerset in Orange County, Virginia. Frascati was the residence of Philip Pendleton Barbour, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and statesman.

Charles Lilburn Lewis, sometimes referred to as Charles Lilburn Lewis of Monteagle, was one of the founders of Milton, Virginia, as well as one of the signers of Albemarle County, Virginia's Declaration of Independence in 1779.

Riverview Cemetery, Charlottesville cemetery in Charlottesville, Virginia

Riverview Cemetery is a private cemetery located in the Woolen Mills section of Charlottesville, Virginia, at 1701 Chesapeake Street. Founded in 1892 as Charlottesville's two public cemeteries — Maplewood and Oakwood — were filling up, Riverview consists of about 50 acres overlooking a bend in the Rivanna River and has approximately 12,000 graves with room for about 7,000 more. Some notable people interred here include Nicholas Lewis, an officer in the American Revolution and friend of Thomas Jefferson; Thomas L. Rosser who was a General for the Confederate States of America and later an officer in the Spanish–American War; and Virginia State Senator Emily Couric.

Farmington (Albemarle County, Virginia) house near Charlottesville, in Albemarle County, Virginia

Farmington is a house near Charlottesville, in Albemarle County, Virginia, that was greatly expanded by a design by Thomas Jefferson that Jefferson executed while he was President of the United States. The original house was built in the mid-18th century for Francis Jerdone on a 1,753-acre (709 ha) property. Jerdone sold the land and house to George Divers, a friend of Jefferson, in 1785. In 1802, Divers asked Jefferson to design an expansion of the house. The house, since greatly enlarged, is now a clubhouse.

Carrsbrook building in Virginia, United States

Carrsbrook is a historic home and farm complex located near Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia. The main house was built about 1785, and is a five-part Palladian style dwelling. It has a central, projecting ​2 12-story, three-bay-wide section flanked by ​1 12-story, single-bay wings connected by hyphens. The front facade features a single-story dwarf portico, supported by Doric order columns. From 1798 to 1815 the house served as the residence and school of Thomas Jefferson's ward and nephew, Peter Carr.

Limestone (Keswick, Virginia) building in Virginia, United States

Limestone, also known as Limestone Plantation and Limestone Farm, has two historic homes and a farm complex located near Keswick, Albemarle County, Virginia. The main dwelling at Limestone Farm consists of a long, narrow two-story central section flanked by two wings. the main section was built about 1840, and the wings appear to be two small late-18th-century dwellings that were incorporated into the larger building. It features a two-story porch. The house underwent another major renovation in the 1920s, when Colonial Revival-style detailing was added. The second dwelling is the Robert Sharp House, also known as the Monroe Law Office. It was built in 1794, and is a 2 1/2-story, brick and frame structure measuring 18 feet by 24 feet. Also on the property are a contributing shed (garage), corncrib, cemetery, a portion of a historic roadway, and a lime kiln known as "Jefferson's Limestone Kiln" (1760s). Limestone's owner in the late-18th century, Robert Sharp, was a neighbor and acquaintance of Thomas Jefferson. The property was purchased by James Monroe in 1816, after the death of Robert Sharp in 1808, and he put his brother Andrew Monroe in charge of its administration. The property was sold at auction in 1828.

Harris Farm (Albemarle County, Virginia)

Harris Farm is a historic farm property at 2950 Thomas Jefferson Highway, in rural eastern Albemarle County, Virginia. The farm, more than 200 acres (81 ha) in size, fronts on both the Rivanna River (east) and Buck Island Creek (south), with the access drive to the main complex on the east side of the road. The centerpiece of the farm complex is a farmhouse whose oldest portion is a Greek Revival I-house built about 1850 by Robert Gentry. In 1898 the house was sold to Hilton Ashby Harris, who increased the house's size by building a second I-house directly attached to the front of the first. A cross-gabled rear projecting ell was added at some time in the early 20th century. The house represents a creative adaptation of traditional housing forms, as well as exemplifying changing construction techniques associated with those forms.

The Charlottesville Woolen Mills is an historic industrial site in Charlottesville, Virginia on which there was a working mill from the 1790s the 1960s. The mills were built, in part, on property once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Company leadership was unusual in offering assistance to employees of all ages to purchase properties for homes near the mill, leading to a neighborhood containing homes at various income levels. The neighborhood surrounding the mills is now known as the Woolen Mills Village Historic District.

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. "The Farm", City of Charlottesville
  4. "davis". www.people.virginia.edu.
  5. Michael J. Bednar (September 1995). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Lewis Farm" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
  6. "Nicholas Lewis - Thomas Jefferson's Monticello". www.monticello.org.
  7. Nicholas Lewis House – Charlottesville, Virginia, Michael Bednar, School of Architecture, University of Virginia, February, 2002

http://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/nicholas-lewis