{"nrhp_refnum":"03001094","name":"Birdwood","other_names":["Vdhr # 002-0003"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"500 Birdwood Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charlottesville","county":"Albemarle County","state":"VA","lat":38.04891358850006,"lon":-78.53247933766264,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-10-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Birdwood is a two-story brick plantation house with outbuildings on nearly twelve acres west of Charlottesville, Albemarle County, Virginia. The original house was built between 1819 and 1830 for William Garth and was enlarged with a Colonial Revival addition in the early twentieth century.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is significant locally under Criterion C for architecture. It resembles Jeffersonian-inspired houses in the area and may have been built by workers who were also building the University of Virginia. The Colonial Revival additions, lighthouse-shaped water tower and gardens add to its significance.","narrative":"Birdwood is a two-story brick plantation house on nearly twelve acres in the foothills west of Charlottesville. Built between 1819 and 1830 for planter William Garth, it has a cubic brick form laid in Flemish bond and a monumental portico with four Doric columns. Its design resembles other Jeffersonian-inspired houses in Albemarle County, and its builders may also have worked on the University of Virginia. In the early twentieth century, owners Charles Edgar and Hollis Rinehart added a large Colonial Revival wing to the south, opened up the first-floor rooms, and built a lighthouse-shaped water tower and ornamental gardens with statuary. The site also holds nineteenth-century dependencies, including a smokehouse and an office with an icehouse, and a stone quarters building. Later owners raised show horses and Hereford cattle, and the University of Virginia bought the land in 1967 and 1974. The mansion is now vacant and is surrounded by a university golf course. It was listed for its architecture at the local level.","period_of_significance":"1819-1953","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Early Republic (Jeffersonian Classicism); Classical Revival (Neo-Classical Revival)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The mansion is not currently in use. It served briefly as a university conference center, which ended about ten years before the nomination.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.578063-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/97/6792/41679297/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/03001094.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001094/a5618ee928-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001094/a5618ee928-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Rwhaley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birdwood_and_water_tower.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Rwhaley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Birdwood_and_water_tower.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679297","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birdwood_(Charlottesville,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712029"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/albemarle-county/birdwood-03001094/"}