{"nrhp_refnum":"73001990","name":"Highland","other_names":["Ash Lawn"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SE of Charlottesville off VA 53","address_restricted":false,"city":"Simeon","county":"Albemarle County","state":"VA","lat":37.98141642500005,"lon":-78.45296806965571,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-08-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Ash Lawn, also called Highland, is a one-story late eighteenth-century cottage with a mid-nineteenth century eastern addition, near Simeon in Albemarle County, Virginia. The original house was finished in 1799 for James Monroe.","why_significant":"The property was a home of James Monroe, governor of Virginia, diplomat, cabinet member and President from 1817 to 1825. He bought it to live near friends Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and William Short, and called the house his \"cabin castle.\" It is also an example of a simple late eighteenth-century cottage with later additions.","narrative":"Ash Lawn, which James Monroe called Highland, is a modest farmhouse near Simeon in Albemarle County, Virginia. The oldest section is a one-story, three-bay cottage finished in 1799 and insured in 1800. A connecting parlor passage, probably part of Monroe's original wing, links it to a two-story central-hall addition built about 1860. Clapboard covers the walls, and the western four rooms have brick noggin construction. Fireplaces in every old room carry mantels from simple to elaborate. Monroe, later President from 1817 to 1825, bought the land to live near Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and William Short, and he called the house his \"cabin castle.\" He kept the property until 1830, when he sold it to E.A. Goodwin. Records do not confirm whether Jefferson contributed to the design. The grounds include boxwood-lined paths, a marble statue of Monroe by Piccirilli, and outbuildings: an ice house, a cabin and a smokehouse. The house is now a museum.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries (specific date 1799)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Simple late eighteenth-century cottage with mid-nineteenth century additions","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition described as good; presently an historic house museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.731704-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/6794/41679407/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73001990.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001990/a6e6606450-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001990/a6e6606450-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Original uploader was RebelAt at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AshLawnHighland.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Original uploader was RebelAt at en.wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AshLawnHighland.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"07001236","name":"Southern Albemarle Rural Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/southern-albemarle-rural-historic-district-07001236/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679407","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_(James_Monroe_house)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4804414"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/albemarle-county/highland-73001990/"}