{"nrhp_refnum":"01001514","name":"Sharp's Oakland","other_names":["Sharp's","J.B. Mathews House","042-0461"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12308 Verdon Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Doswell","county":"Hanover County","state":"VA","lat":37.899129003500065,"lon":-77.51333960376061,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-01-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Second Empire frame farmhouse at 12308 Verdon Road near Doswell, Hanover County, Virginia, rebuilt in the mid-1890s around the stone basement of an earlier house of about 1830, with one surviving slave quarter outbuilding.","why_significant":"The house is considered significant under Criterion C for architecture because of its unusual Second Empire design. It is tall and narrow rather than cubic, with rustic stone chimneys, two-story corner projections flanking the chimneys and a patterned wooden-shingle mansard roof. The earlier dwelling also stood amid fighting during the Battle of North Anna in May 1864.","narrative":"Sharp's Oakland is a three-story frame farmhouse in open farmland near Doswell, Hanover County, Virginia. It grew from a small dwelling of about 1830 whose fieldstone basement, two Adam-style mantels and some woodwork survive inside. The house reached its present Second Empire form in the mid-1890s under the Sharp family. Unlike most houses in this style, which are roughly cubic, it is long, narrow and tall, with a mansard roof covered in patterned wooden shingles. Flat stone chimneys rise at each end, flanked by small windowed projections on two levels. Inside, a central stair hall separates single rooms on each floor, and Eastlake-style finishes and false graining remain. The earlier house stood behind Federal lines during the Battle of North Anna in May 1864. A frame slave quarter with a massive stone chimney survives nearby, though a 1998 tornado damaged it and other farm buildings. The house has since been restored and is still used as a home.","period_of_significance":"c. 1830-1950","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Second Empire/Mansard","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The house has been recently restored and remains a single dwelling. The slave quarter outbuilding is used for storage but was badly damaged by a 1998 tornado and is deteriorating.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.446686-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/6811/41681160/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/01001514.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001514/e04b97adf4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001514/e04b97adf4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sharp%27s_Oakland_entrance.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sharp%27s_Oakland_entrance.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681160","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp%27s_Oakland","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713198"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/hanover-county/sharps-oakland-01001514/"}