{"nrhp_refnum":"00000311","name":"Ben Dover","other_names":["Ben Dover Farm","37-78"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"661 River Rd. W #36","address_restricted":false,"city":"Manakin-Sabot","county":"Goochland County","state":"VA","lat":37.60780560050006,"lon":-77.73670214591769,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-04-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Entertainment/Recreation","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Ben Dover (Ben Dover Farm) is a 193.94-acre farm district in Manakin-Sabot, Goochland County, Virginia, between State Route 6 and the James River. It centers on an Italian Villa style house built in 1853 for William Beverly Stanard, with many farm and recreational outbuildings and sites.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the property is significant for architecture as an Italian Villa house, probably copied from an illustration in Downing's pattern book, later remodeled in Colonial Revival style, with a notable collection of outbuildings. It is also significant for its well-preserved ca. 1900 bowling alley, and for its association with William T. Reed, Sr. (1864-1935), an influential Richmond businessman and adviser to Governor Harry Byrd. Its significance is local.","narrative":"Ben Dover is a farm of about 194 acres in Manakin-Sabot, Goochland County, Virginia, lying between State Route 6 and the James River. Its main house was built in 1853 for William Beverly Stanard in the Italian Villa style, probably copied from an illustration in Andrew Jackson Downing's The Architecture of Country Houses. In 1930 owner William T. Reed, Sr., added a Colonial Revival façade to cover decades of deterioration. Reed was a prominent Richmond businessman and adviser to Governor Harry Byrd. The district includes thirteen contributing buildings, ten structures and eight sites, among them tenant houses, barns, a stable, water towers, a swimming pool, terracing and the ruins of slave quarters. A single-lane Brunswick bowling alley from about 1905 is considered one of the best preserved in Virginia. Together these resources show how a Virginia farm evolved from the mid-nineteenth century into the twentieth, and they support its local significance in architecture, recreation and politics.","period_of_significance":"1853-1935","architect_builder":"Undetermined","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Italianate; Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Main house and several outbuildings remain in use as dwellings, with the bowling alley and horticultural and agricultural outbuildings listed as current uses; the three water towers are in poor condition and some barns and other resources are ruins.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:01.282644-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/6809/41680981/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/00000311.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000311/eaf984638c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000311/eaf984638c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ben_Dover_from_River_Road.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ben_Dover_from_River_Road.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680981","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Dover_(Manakin-Sabot,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712019"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/goochland-county/ben-dover-00000311/"}