{"nrhp_refnum":"10000560","name":"Cedar Grove","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"138 Lewis Mill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clarksville","county":"Mecklenburg County","state":"VA","lat":36.56595195150007,"lon":-78.57844709586152,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-08-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Cedar Grove is a Greek Revival brick plantation house with farm outbuildings and a family cemetery, about five miles south of Clarksville in Mecklenburg County, Virginia. The main house was built in 1838 by John Taylor Lewis II.","why_significant":"The house has an unusual form, a one-story block on a raised basement with a clerestory, that appears to be unique in Virginia, and it keeps well-executed interior woodwork and brickwork. Its domestic and agricultural outbuildings show how Southside Virginia plantations operated from the antebellum period through the mid-twentieth century. The 1950s changes also show the estate being reconceived as a gentleman's country property.","narrative":"Cedar Grove is a brick plantation house in southern Mecklenburg County, Virginia, built in 1838 by John Taylor Lewis II on land his father assembled. Its Greek Revival design is unusual: a one-story block on a raised basement, topped by a hipped roof and a smaller clerestory. Porches with Doric columns mark the north and south entrances, and the hand-molded bricks were made on the property. Inside, the house keeps original heart pine floors, refined trim, arched parlor niches and a carved S-shaped newel post that may be linked to craftsman Thomas Day. Brick wings were added in 1993. The surrounding property includes an ice house, smokehouse, barn, relocated cottages from a spa, a gate house and a family cemetery. Once a 2,500-acre tobacco farm with a mill and distillery, it was reduced to 770 acres when the John H. Kerr Reservoir was created in 1953. It was listed for its architecture and its record of Southside Virginia plantation life.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"No formal architect; Dabney Cosby reputed builder, \"Old Jim\" head carpenter; John Taylor Lewis, II (owner/builder)","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century/Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Maintained as a residence and shooting preserve; described as well taken care of, with 1993 wings and interior alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.051109-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/6819/41681920/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/10000560.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000560/837ce836a1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000560/837ce836a1-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cedar_Grove_plantation_entrance_and_tenant_house.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cedar_Grove_plantation_entrance_and_tenant_house.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681920","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Grove_(Clarksville,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712143"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/mecklenburg-county/cedar-grove-10000560/"}