{"nrhp_refnum":"74002101","name":"Cobham Park","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of VA 22","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cobham","county":"Albemarle County","state":"VA","lat":38.052460252500026,"lon":-78.26750116367697,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-07-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Cobham Park is an ante-bellum estate near Cobham in Albemarle County, Virginia, centered on a brick Georgian-style mansion built around 1856 within a landscaped park, on land that was once part of the Castle Hill estate.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the best preserved and most beautifully sited ante-bellum estates in Virginia. Its grounds are a fine example of nineteenth-century landscaping modeled on English country house parks. The mansion is an unusual early example of Georgian Revival architecture, with a notable flying spiral stair.","narrative":"Cobham Park is a large ante-bellum estate in the rolling Piedmont countryside of Albemarle County, Virginia, east of the Southwest Mountains. Grazing fields and woodland surround a landscaped park and a brick mansion built around 1856. William Cabell Rives, Jr. laid out the grounds on land that had been part of the Castle Hill estate, copying the parks of English country houses with broad sloping lawns, preserved large trees and cut vistas toward the mountains. A formal boxwood garden lies behind the house, and early outbuildings survive. The two-and-a-half-story mansion follows the Georgian style of Virginia houses a century earlier, making it one of the first examples of Georgian Revival architecture in the country. Its hipped roof has scrolled dormers, and a flying spiral stair, carved by the English carpenter McSparren, is the interior highlight. The house remains well preserved, with its original fabric largely intact, and is still a private residence.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date c1856)","architect_builder":"No architect associated; woodwork executed by English master carpenter McSparren","architectural_style":"Georgian (Georgian Revival)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied private residence in excellent condition, unaltered and on its original site, with no significant loss of original fabric.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.774873-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/65/6793/41679365/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/74002101.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002101/a569d8743d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002101/a569d8743d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cobham_Park_driveway_entrance.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cobham_Park_driveway_entrance.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679365","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobham_Park_(Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712194"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/albemarle-county/cobham-park-74002101/"}