{"nrhp_refnum":"70000803","name":"Powhatan","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of jct. of Rtes. 615 and 5","address_restricted":false,"city":"Five Forks","county":"James City County","state":"VA","lat":37.26331740650005,"lon":-76.7686800989411,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Powhatan is a two-story brick plantation house of the Early Georgian period near Five Forks in James City County, Virginia. It was designed, by attribution, by Richard Taliaferro in the mid-18th century and sits on about 250 acres.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Powhatan is a major example of American Early Georgian architecture, with exceptional Colonial brickwork. It is linked directly to Richard Taliaferro, whom it describes as a \"most skillful architect\", and may help clarify who designed a group of important Virginia plantation houses.","narrative":"Powhatan is a two-story brick mansion in James City County, Virginia, near Five Forks. It is five bays long and two bays deep, with centered doors front and rear and a double-pile plan around a central hall. The walls are laid in Flemish bond with glazed headers, with rubbed and gauged brickwork around the openings and two large T-shaped interior end chimneys. The house is attributed to Richard Taliaferro, a justice of the peace who was living on the land by 1751 and who was praised in 1749 as a \"most skillful architect.\" Fire during the Civil War gutted the house, and it was rebuilt within the walls. A thorough renovation in 1948 replaced the hipped roof, sash, and cornice and most interior woodwork. The nomination presents Powhatan as a major example of Early Georgian architecture and as a clue to the authorship of several notable Virginia plantation houses. An avenue three-fourths of a mile long approaches the house.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":"Richard Taliaferro (attributed architect)","architectural_style":"Early Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rated in good condition, altered, on its original site; privately owned and listed as unoccupied, used as a private residence. Restored in 1948 after fire damage.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.710409-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/6813/41681373/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/70000803.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000803/e5723c8d20-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000803/e5723c8d20-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Powhatan,_Powhatan_Creek,_Williamsburg_vicinity_(James_City,_Virginia).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Powhatan,_Powhatan_Creek,_Williamsburg_vicinity_(James_City,_Virginia).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681373","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powhatan_(Five_Forks,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713092"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/james-city-county/powhatan-70000803/"}