{"nrhp_refnum":"73002031","name":"Belle Isle","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SW side of W end of VA 683","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lancaster","county":"Lancaster County","state":"VA","lat":37.780869557000074,"lon":-76.58396304499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-02-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Belle Isle is a Tidewater plantation complex near Lancaster, Lancaster County, Virginia, centered on a two-story brick Georgian house with one-story wings, built before 1759 and expanded around 1790, at the end of a mile-long axial avenue.","why_significant":"The nomination calls Belle Isle an excellent example of a small but formal Tidewater plantation complex, with its house, outbuildings, terraced gardens and axial avenue. The house itself is described as a classic essay in Virginia Georgian architecture. It is also tied to the Bertrand and Downman families and to a 1940s restoration.","narrative":"Belle Isle is a plantation house in Lancaster County, Virginia, reached by a mile-long axial avenue. The two-story brick main block has Flemish bond walls, segmental arches and a hipped roof with its original modillion cornice. It is believed to have been built before 1759 by William Bertrand, whose father, a Huguenot, acquired the tract in 1692. Rawleigh William Downman bought the property in 1786 and probably added the one-story wings around 1790. Two original brick dependencies form a forecourt on the land side, and terraced gardens face the Rappahannock River. In 1922 the first-floor paneling was removed and later installed in the Winterthur Museum in Delaware. After the current owners bought the place in 1940, architect Thomas T. Waterman restored the house and designed replacement woodwork. The nominated thousand acres include the house, gardens, river views and the creek boundaries. The property was listed as an example of a formal Tidewater plantation and of Virginia Georgian architecture.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":"William Bertrand (believed builder of the main block); Rawleigh William Downman (probable builder of the wings); Thomas T. Waterman (restoration architect)","architectural_style":"Virginia Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition, occupied as a private residence, and beautifully restored and maintained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.852975-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/6814/41681476/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73002031.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002031/c332af243d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002031/c332af243d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belle_Isle,_State_Route_683,_Somers_vicinity_(Lancaster_County,_Virginia).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown authorUnknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belle_Isle,_State_Route_683,_Somers_vicinity_(Lancaster_County,_Virginia).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100005837","name":"Occupacia-Rappahannock Rural Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/occupacia-rappahannock-rural-historic-district-100005837/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681476","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belle_Isle_(Lancaster,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15198271"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/lancaster-county/belle-isle-73002031/"}