{"nrhp_refnum":"04000840","name":"Walnut Grove","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"14081 Lee Highway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bristol","county":"Washington County","state":"VA","lat":36.639505996000025,"lon":-82.11827495399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-08-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Walnut Grove is a two-story timber frame house on Lee Highway (U.S. Route 11) at the edge of Bristol, Washington County, Virginia, built about 1815 by Colonel Robert Preston. The property includes a log meathouse and a hay barn as contributing outbuildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues for Criterion A through the house's link to the settlement of the western Virginia and east Tennessee region. It argues for Criterion C as a sophisticated example of colonial architecture, with craftsmanship rarely found in southwestern Virginia. It is judged significant at the local level.","narrative":"Walnut Grove is a two-story timber frame house with weatherboard siding, built around 1815 beside Lee Highway on the edge of Bristol, Virginia. Colonel Robert Preston, an Irish-born surveyor who laid out Abingdon and became Washington County's first surveyor, built it as the manor house of a large plantation. Inside, a center hall with a carved staircase is flanked by paneled parlors with raised-panel mantels and imported box locks. Heavy timber roof trusses survive in the attic. Limestone chimneys rise at both gable ends, and a log meathouse and hay barn remain on the site. Members of the Preston and Sheffey families owned and occupied the house until 2000. The house is considered significant for its link to the settlement of the western Virginia and east Tennessee region and for its refined colonial architecture. The house was left vacant in 2000 and has deteriorated, but it retains much of its integrity. The Bristol Historical Association plans to move and restore it as a museum.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1815-1954","architect_builder":"Preston, Robert","architectural_style":"Colonial/Georgian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The house was left vacant in 2000 and is described as in a state of decay. It was donated to the Bristol Historical Association, which proposes to relocate and restore it in Sugar Hollow Park.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.415064-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/43/6840/41684043/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/04000840.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000840/a8dad73c58-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000840/a8dad73c58-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walnut_Grove_northeast_of_Bristol.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Walnut_Grove_northeast_of_Bristol.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684043","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Grove_(Bristol,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16902870"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/washington-county/walnut-grove-04000840/"}