{"nrhp_refnum":"73002029","name":"Belle Grove","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"On U.S. 301","address_restricted":false,"city":"Port Conway","county":"King George County","state":"VA","lat":38.18970000500005,"lon":-77.18669109419423,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Belle Grove is a frame plantation house on a bluff overlooking the Rappahannock River at Port Conway, King George County, Virginia, built between 1790 and 1796, most likely for John Hipkins, and enlarged after 1839.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the major eighteenth-century plantation houses of the lower Rappahannock Valley. It belongs to a group of late-eighteenth-century frame houses that may share a single builder or school of builders. It also has an indirect link to President James Madison, who was probably born in an earlier Conway house nearby.","narrative":"Belle Grove is a frame plantation house on a bluff above the Rappahannock River, across from Port Royal. It was built between 1790 and 1796, most likely for John Hipkins, a Port Royal merchant, and then passed to his son-in-law William Bernard. Originally a seven-bay main block with an Ionic portico and one-story wings, it resembled nearby Nanzatico. After 1839, Carolinus Turner enlarged it into a five-part house, adding a two-level Greek Doric and Roman Ionic portico on the river front and an undulating Doric colonnade on the land front. He also replaced much of the interior woodwork with Classical Revival work, while keeping the elliptical hall arch. The house is notable as part of a group of similar late-eighteenth-century frame houses, including Gay Mont and Nanzatico. It also has a tie to James Madison, who was probably born in an earlier Conway house nearby. The original frame kitchen and brick smokehouse survive, and most of the plantation land remains with the house.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries","architect_builder":"Builder-designer not established; possibly Richard and Yelverton Stern (unsupported by documentation). Carolinus Turner commissioned the later alterations.","architectural_style":"Late eighteenth-century frame house with Classical Revival alterations","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition, unaltered since the Turner-era changes apart from minor additions, and in use as a private residence; the original frame kitchen and brick smokehouse survive.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.188262-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/6814/41681426/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73002029.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002029/9572f44bf2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002029/9572f44bf2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Thomas T. Waterman","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belle_Grove,_Rappahannock_River,_Port_Royal,_Caroline_County,_VA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomas T. Waterman</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belle_Grove,_Rappahannock_River,_Port_Royal,_Caroline_County,_VA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681426","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Grove_(Port_Conway,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4883635"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/king-george-county/belle-grove-73002029/"}