{"nrhp_refnum":"06000802","name":"Oak Lawn","other_names":["Burford House","005-5029"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"155 Winridge Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Madison Heights","county":"Amherst County","state":"VA","lat":37.48423358100007,"lon":-79.14938359699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-09-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Oak Lawn is a two-story frame house at 155 Winridge Drive near Madison Heights in western Amherst County, Virginia. The original section dates to about 1810 and was enlarged about 1857; a well house and a modern shed are also on the property.","why_significant":"The property is linked to Sylvester L. Burford, a local carriage maker, mill and store owner, undertaker and inventor who patented a wooden shoe sole with the Confederate Patent Office. It also shows Late Georgian and Greek Revival features in its mantels, door surrounds and plan. It is significant at the local level under Criteria B and C, in the areas of Industry and Architecture.","narrative":"Oak Lawn is a two-story frame house on a ridge near Madison Heights in western Amherst County, Virginia, shaded by large oaks. Its original section dates to the first two decades of the nineteenth century and was probably built by Ambrose Burford. His son Sylvester L. Burford enlarged it about 1857 into a center-passage house with four gable-end chimneys, Late Georgian mantels in the older part, and Greek Revival mantels and crossetted door surrounds in the addition. Sylvester Burford was listed as a carriage maker in the census, but he also ran a grist mill and sawmill, a general store, and a coffin-making and undertaking business. In 1863 he filed a patent for a wooden shoe sole with the Confederate Patent Office. The property is significant locally for his industrial and inventive career and for the house's blend of Georgian and Greek Revival design. A latticed late nineteenth-century well house also contributes to the property.","period_of_significance":"Ca. 1810-1881","architect_builder":"Unknown (original section probably built by Ambrose Burford; enlarged by his son Sylvester L. Burford ca. 1857)","architectural_style":"Georgian; Greek Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Undergoing rehabilitation by the owners, begun in 2003; the house remains a single dwelling.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.931854-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/6795/41679547/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/06000802.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000802/0681c5171d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000802/0681c5171d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Kteague","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oak_Lawn.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Kteague</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:Oak_Lawn.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679547","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_Lawn_(Madison_Heights,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712992"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/amherst-county/oak-lawn-06000802/"}