{"nrhp_refnum":"66000923","name":"Westover","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7 mi. W of Charles City on VA 5","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charles City","county":"Charles City County","state":"VA","lat":37.31975686800007,"lon":-77.15371853246839,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1960-10-09","areas_of_significance":["Literature","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Westover is a Georgian mansion and plantation estate about seven miles southwest of Charles City on the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. The present house was built between 1730 and 1734 by William Byrd II.","why_significant":"The nomination calls Westover a superb example of early Georgian architecture and possibly the most famous Georgian house in America. It was also the home of William Byrd II, a colonial planter, writer, politician and founder of Virginia gentry society. The house is noted for the quality of its workmanship and its architectural completeness.","narrative":"Westover is a brick Georgian mansion on the James River in Charles City County, Virginia, set on one of the earliest Virginia plantations, first occupied in 1619. William Byrd II built the present house between 1730 and 1734. It has a two-story central section on a high basement with two attached wings; the eastern wing replaced the original, destroyed in the Civil War. Features include Portland stone doorways on both main facades, a steeply pitched hip roof, an off-center main hall and an interior with full-length paneling and enriched plaster ceilings. The grounds hold three wrought iron gates, formal gardens containing Byrd's grave, the site of the first Westover church, an old ice house and the original kitchen, which may predate the house. Byrd owned the largest library in the colonies, wrote the History of the Dividing Line, and expanded his inheritance to some 180,000 acres. The nomination values the estate for its architecture and for its connection to him.","period_of_significance":"1730-1744","architect_builder":"William Byrd II (builder/owner)","architectural_style":"Georgian (early Georgian)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered. Occupied as a private residence; grounds open to the public, interior of main house not open. Mansion group restored about 1920.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.871307-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/6789/41678999/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/66000923_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000923/e921c90b23-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000923/e921c90b23-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Stephen Lea","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WestoverPlantationSEGL.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Stephen Lea</a>, <a href=\"http://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:WestoverPlantationSEGL.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678999","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westover_Plantation","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2310858"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/charles-city-county/westover-66000923/"}