{"nrhp_refnum":"09001052","name":"Lewis Mountain","other_names":["Onteora"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 Lewis Mountain Pkwy.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charlottesville","county":"Albemarle County","state":"VA","lat":38.04201612300005,"lon":-78.52119965335622,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-12-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A granite Colonial Revival mansion with a guest house, stable/garage, entrance gates and terraced landscape atop Lewis Mountain, a conical peak just west of the University of Virginia near Charlottesville, Albemarle County. Designed in 1909 and completed by 1912 for Gen. John Watts Kearny.","why_significant":"The property is argued to be locally significant under Criterion C for architecture, as one of the earliest and most ambitious works of Charlottesville architect Eugene Bradbury, who referenced the classicism Thomas Jefferson introduced to the region. The grounds were laid out by Boston landscape architect Warren H. Manning. The house and outbuildings survive nearly unchanged, and the period of significance extends to 1971, when the current marble mantels were installed.","narrative":"Crowning a nearly perfect conical peak west of the University of Virginia, Lewis Mountain is a granite mansion that has been a landmark in central Virginia for a century. Gen. John Watts Kearny, a former Union Army officer, bought the tract in 1909 and hired Charlottesville architect Eugene Bradbury to design the house, a guest house and a stable, all built of local hand-chiseled granite and finished by about 1912. The two-and-a-half-story house has a two-story Doric portico facing east, one-story wings and a Tuscan porte-cochere on the west. Boston landscape architect Warren H. Manning laid out the grounds, including terraces on the steep eastern slope and a spiraling gravel drive. Inside, formal rooms retain much original detail, though several first-floor mantels were replaced with marble ones in 1971. The estate is recognized for its architecture and as one of Bradbury's earliest and grandest works, reflecting Jeffersonian classicism. Now about forty-three acres, it remains a private residence.","period_of_significance":"1909-1971","architect_builder":"Eugene Bradbury (architect); Warren H. Manning (landscape architect)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and early 20th century revivals / Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Currently a single dwelling; the house and ancillary buildings survive almost unchanged, and a renovation is underway to restore the roof covering and rooftop railing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.420314-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/6793/41679367/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/09001052.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001052/85486a2c46-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001052/85486a2c46-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lewis_Mountain_seen_from_UVA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lewis_Mountain_seen_from_UVA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679367","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Mountain","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712698"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/albemarle-county/lewis-mountain-09001052/"}