{"nrhp_refnum":"70000828","name":"Fortsville","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SE of the jct. of Rtes. 612 and 611","address_restricted":false,"city":"Grizzard","county":"Sussex County","state":"VA","lat":36.71319803250006,"lon":-77.41388036428351,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Fortsville is a frame, two-story house on a brick foundation with two one-story wings, set on a hilltop on the south side of Route 612 near Grizzard in Sussex County, Virginia. It was built by John Y. Mason.","why_significant":"The house was the home of John Y. Mason, a congressman, Secretary of the Navy, Attorney General and minister to France, who helped write the Ostend Manifesto in 1854. Architecturally, its three-part Palladian-inspired composition and pedimented gable-end front date stylistically from 1780-1820. Its location in an isolated corner of Sussex County is described as almost as surprising as its stark hilltop site.","narrative":"Fortsville is a frame, two-story house on a brick foundation, standing on a lonely hilltop near Grizzard in Sussex County, Virginia. Two shallow one-story wings flank a pedimented gable-end north front, which has a modillioned and dentilled cornice and an elliptical fanlight. Inside, the central block holds an entrance room, a narrower hall and a room behind, with a single room in each wing. Mantels vary, with the west wing example reflecting Southside Virginia work of the later eighteenth century. The house was home to John Y. Mason, who served in Congress, twice as Secretary of the Navy, as Attorney General and as minister to France, and who joined in writing the 1854 Ostend Manifesto on Cuba. He named the estate for his wife, Mary Ann Fort, whose family had owned the land. Its three-part plan relates to Palladian-inspired Virginia houses such as Eppington and Belnemus.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries (specific dates not given)","architect_builder":"John Y. Mason (built his house on the Fort family property)","architectural_style":"Palladian-inspired three-part composition with pedimented gable-end front, dating stylistically from 1780-1820","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good, altered, on its original site; present use is private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.615572-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/6839/41683928/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/70000828.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000828/dc8238db29-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000828/dc8238db29-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nebulous","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fortsville_Front.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nebulous</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Fortsville_Front.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683928","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortsville","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15218243"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/sussex-county/fortsville-70000828/"}