{"nrhp_refnum":"08000479","name":"Elks National Home","other_names":["VDHR File No. 141-0060"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"931 Ashland Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bedford (Independent City)","county":"Bedford (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.34347842150004,"lon":-79.53748648125122,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-05-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of about 100 acres in Bedford, Virginia, containing the Elks National Home, a retirement community for Elks members. It has a main Administration Building completed in 1916, flanking dormitory cottages, a theater, a power house and a working farm complex.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the Home as an early prototype of the retirement homes that became common later in the 20th century, built when options for elderly people were mostly poor farms and almshouses. It is also significant for its Classical Revival and Mediterranean Revival architecture and its resort-like landscape of golf course, pond and gardens. The Home housed over 400 residents during the Great Depression, the largest enrollment in its history.","narrative":"Elks National Home is a district of about 100 acres in Bedford, Virginia, built to house elderly members of the Elks fraternal order. Its centerpiece is the Administration Building of 1916, a two-story Classical Revival and Mediterranean Revival structure with a six-column portico, stuccoed tile block walls and Spanish tile roofs. Arcades link it to seven dormitory cottages arranged in a crescent, with two more cottages, a power house and the 1938 Fred Harper Theatre behind. A farm complex, including a dairy barn of about 1920, supplied the Home and still serves as pasture. Other contributing features include a pond, garden, golf course, a 1925 Harding monument and an elk statue. The Home replaced an earlier hotel-based facility opened in 1903. It is considered notable as a prototype of later retirement communities, offering care at a time when poor farms and almshouses were the usual alternative. It housed more than 400 residents during the Great Depression.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Ottenheimer Stern and Reichert (Chicago architectural firm selected in 1912 to develop conceptual plans)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival; Mediterranean Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in its historic use as multiple dwellings for residents, with the farm land continuing as pasturage; some elevators and an elevated corridor were added in later decades.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.292389-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/6797/41679788/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/08000479.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000479/43dd651c51-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000479/43dd651c51-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"LeeG7144","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elks_National_Home_2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">LeeG7144</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:Elks_National_Home_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679788","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elks_National_Home","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5364404"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/bedford/elks-national-home-08000479/"}