{"nrhp_refnum":"09000641","name":"Simon Reid Curtis House","other_names":["Boxwood Inn","121-5031"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10 Elmhurst St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newport News","county":"Newport News","state":"VA","lat":37.19587949400005,"lon":-76.57190937699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-08-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story frame Colonial Revival building at 10 Elmhurst Street in Lee Hall, at the northern tip of Newport News, Virginia, built ca. 1897 by Simon Reid Curtis. It combines a store and a dwelling in a T-shaped plan and is now a bed and breakfast and restaurant.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is tied to Simon Reid Curtis, the dominant political and business figure in Warwick County in the first half of the 20th century (Criterion B). It also holds that the building is a distinctive example of Colonial Revival design by Adolph Wagner that combined residential, commercial and government uses under one roof (Criterion C).","narrative":"Built around 1897 in the village of Lee Hall, now the northern tip of Newport News, this large frame building was the first dwelling in the village and is the only 19th-century residence still standing there. Businessman and political leader Simon Reid Curtis hired architect and engineer Adolph Wagner to design a single complex housing a dry goods store, post office, boarding rooms, the county treasurer's office and the family home. Wagner joined two structures into a T-shaped plan with shared porches, windows, shutters and siding, and separate entrances divided public and private space. Original store counters, shelves, post office mailboxes, flooring and door hardware survive. Curtis served as Warwick County treasurer for forty-five years and was widely called the county's boss. The house was listed for his association with politics and commerce and for its Colonial Revival architecture. The Curtis family kept it until 1996, when it became a bed and breakfast.","period_of_significance":"1897-1949","architect_builder":"Adolph Wagner, Architect/Engineer","architectural_style":"Late 19th Century Revival/Colonial Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Sold by the Curtis family in 1996, renovated and converted to a bed and breakfast; current functions are hotel and restaurant.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.26157-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/65/6820/41682065/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/09000641.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000641/225c9f341c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000641/225c9f341c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Petra holden","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boxwood_Inn_(formerly_Simon_Reed_Curtis_House,_1896).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Petra holden</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:Boxwood_Inn_(formerly_Simon_Reed_Curtis_House,_1896).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682065","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Reid_Curtis_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16890759"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/newport-news/simon-reid-curtis-house-09000641/"}