{"nrhp_refnum":"03000446","name":"Beth Elon","other_names":["043-5117"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4600 Nine Mile Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond","county":"Henrico County","state":"VA","lat":37.545107220000034,"lon":-77.37389611999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-05-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Performing Arts","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Beth Elon is a two-story frame Queen Anne style house at 4600 Nine Mile Road in Henrico County near Richmond, Virginia, built around 1890 for Leslie Fletcher Watson and Laura Woodruff Watson, on a 3.196-acre parcel with ruins of an earlier house and several outbuildings.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Leslie and Laura Watson, musicians, composers and teachers who were early Associates of the American Guild of Organists and worked in Richmond from 1884 to 1933. It is also argued to be a good, rare surviving example of a simple Queen Anne suburban farmhouse of the streetcar era. The extensive family photographs, letters and plans documenting the house add to its value.","narrative":"Beth Elon is a two-story frame house in the Queen Anne style, built around 1890 on Nine Mile Road in Henrico County, outside Richmond. Leslie Fletcher Watson sketched the plan, with help from his father, Pike Watson, who made the window sash. The roof carries a saw-toothed ridge crest inspired by pattern books, and the interior keeps its cypress woodwork, six wooden mantels and heart pine floors. The house was built for Leslie and Laura Woodruff Watson, musicians who settled in Virginia in 1884. Both became Associates of the American Guild of Organists, and Laura was the first woman from the Richmond area to be certified. Leslie composed at least 22 organ pieces published by Lorenz and taught music at John Marshall High School. The couple taught lessons at the house and died there in 1933. Few Queen Anne farmhouses of this type survive near Richmond, and the family's glass negatives, letters and building plans document the property unusually well.","period_of_significance":"1890 - 1933","architect_builder":"rough plan drawing by Leslie Watson, carpenter: F.C. Swann","architectural_style":"Late Victorian / Queen Anne","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Retains most original interior woodwork and window sash; exterior concrete shingles and metal roof are later coverings, and the owners intend to remove the mid-twentieth century coverings. Listed as a house still occupied by the family line.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.88463-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/56/6812/41681256/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/03000446.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000446/6aeb7487d4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000446/6aeb7487d4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BETH_ELON.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BETH_ELON.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681256","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Elon","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4897494"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/henrico-county/beth-elon-03000446/"}