{"nrhp_refnum":"100010834","name":"Bel Air","other_names":["Vdhr Id #112-0007"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"269 Happy Creek Road","address_restricted":false,"city":"Front Royal","county":"Warren County","state":"VA","lat":38.92167450000005,"lon":-78.18817973160262,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2024-09-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Bel Air is a brick, one-and-one-half story house with a high stone foundation, near Minnieville in Prince William County, Virginia, traditionally said to date from 1740 and built on the basement of an earlier house. The form's location and listing details differ from the Front Royal, Warren County entry given in the request.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Mason Locke Weems, the first biographer of George Washington and originator of the cherry tree story, who lived here for the last fifteen years of his life and is buried in the family cemetery. It is also valued as a study of structural evolution, with mid-eighteenth century paneling, an unusual wooden partition in the hall, and nineteenth-century changes to the masonry.","narrative":"Bel Air is a one-and-one-half story brick house on a high stone foundation, with small dormers, a very large exterior chimney at the west end and a smaller one at the east. Tradition dates it to 1740, built on the basement of an earlier house, and it is thought to have been built by Captain Charles Ewell. Most of the brickwork is Flemish bond, though the north front shows considerable rebuilding. Inside, a central hall plan, mid-eighteenth century paneling and a wooden partition between the southwest room and the hall, said to be removable, stand out. The property is best known for Mason Locke Weems, who moved here around 1808 or 1809 after marrying into the Ewell family. Weems wrote The Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington, in which the cherry tree story first appeared, and he is buried in the family cemetery. The house is also regarded as a study in how a 38 by 51 foot building evolved over time.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":"Thought to have been built by Captain Charles Ewell","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and unaltered on the original site, used as a private residence; the statement of significance says the house has stood empty for long periods.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.977676-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/35/6827/41682735/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/70000823.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":null,"wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/warren-county/bel-air-100010834/"}