{"nrhp_refnum":"72001378","name":"Wharton Place","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"0.7 mi. NE of jct. of VA 762 and 679","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mappsville","county":"Accomack County","state":"VA","lat":37.84927317200004,"lon":-75.53374557899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-11-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Wharton Place is a two-story brick Federal-style house in an isolated spot near Assawoman Creek in the Mappsville vicinity of Accomack County, Virginia, built by merchant John Wharton within a few years after he bought the land in 1798.","why_significant":"The house is ranked among the most architecturally sophisticated Federal houses in Virginia, with lavish marble trim and rich interior woodwork and plaster. Its four mantels carry composition ornaments by Robert Wellford of Philadelphia, two of them signed, which helps identify his work elsewhere. It also survives in a high state of preservation with little alteration.","narrative":"Wharton Place is a two-story Federal house of Flemish bond brick standing at the end of a neck on the ocean side of Virginia's Eastern Shore, with fields, pine woods and the marshes of Assawoman Creek around it. John Wharton (1762-1811), a maritime merchant, built it within a few years after buying the surrounding tract in 1798, and he ran his business interests from the house and kept a ship landing on the creek. The house has a deck-on-hip roof, a bracketed cornice, marble arches over every window, and matching east and west doorways with pediments and unusual tracery. Inside, four mantels are decorated with composition ornaments by Robert Wellford of Philadelphia, and two bear his signature. Few Virginia houses of this quality survive with so little alteration. A renovation begun in 1945 restored the original sashes, removed a Victorian porch and reproduced the original paint colors.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":"John Wharton (builder); mantel ornaments by Robert Wellford of Philadelphia","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered, on its original site; in use as a private residence. Carefully renovated beginning in 1945.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.542136-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/6792/41679201/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/72001378.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001378/7e84bba5e8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001378/7e84bba5e8-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wharton_Place_fields_with_house_dimly_visible.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wharton_Place_fields_with_house_dimly_visible.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679201","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wharton_Place","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14692485"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/accomack-county/wharton-place-72001378/"}