{"nrhp_refnum":"74002106","name":"Hope Dawn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NW of Lynchburg off VA 761","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynchburg","county":"Bedford (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.49973403850004,"lon":-79.2311264588123,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-10-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Hope Dawn is a Federal-style story-and-a-half brick farmhouse with a one-bay south wing, located west of the James River in Bedford County near Lynchburg, Virginia. It was built in the early nineteenth century for Dr. Howell Davies, a Lynchburg druggist.","why_significant":"The nomination presents Hope Dawn as an elegantly refined and well-preserved example of Piedmont Virginia rural architecture. Its fine details and balanced proportions show the high quality of building arts in relatively remote parts of the state. The pastoral setting with the Blue Ridge foothills behind it also conveys an image of rural life in old Virginia.","narrative":"Hope Dawn is a story-and-a-half Federal-style brick farmhouse in Bedford County, west of the James River near Lynchburg. It has a three-bay main block and a one-bay wing, with Flemish bond brick walls, a corbeled brick cornice, pedimented dormers and a tetrastyle portico at the entrance. Inside are fine Federal mantels, including one with spiral-reeded colonettes. The house was built in the early nineteenth century for Dr. Howell Davies, a Lynchburg druggist whose land holdings on the James are recorded from 1827 to 1841. The name Hope Dawn first appears in records during the Lecky ownership, 1874 to 1924. A restoration in the 1960s recovered original features such as exposed ceiling joists and the wing steps. The grounds include a stable converted to a guesthouse, a stone outbuilding, a relocated frame office and a stone wall along the old Bethel turnpike. The house is valued as a well-preserved example of Piedmont Virginia rural architecture in a pastoral setting.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated excellent; occupied as a private summer residence. An extensive restoration was carried out in the 1960s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:58.057349-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/6797/41679754/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/74002106.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002106/a193bcefd2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002106/a193bcefd2-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hope_Dawn_driveway_gate.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hope_Dawn_driveway_gate.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679754","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hope_Dawn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712572"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/bedford/hope-dawn-74002106/"}