{"nrhp_refnum":"75002017","name":"Olive Hill","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"0.5 mi. W of Matoaca off VA 36","address_restricted":false,"city":"Matoaca","county":"Chesterfield County","state":"VA","lat":37.22632426800007,"lon":-77.49636751059168,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Olive Hill is a two-story white frame Georgian plantation house on a cliff above the Appomattox River near Matoaca, Chesterfield County, Virginia. It was probably built in the decade after Roger Atkinson bought the land in 1755.","why_significant":"The nomination cites the house's elegant Chinese lattice stair, its unusual irregular plan, and a puzzling change to its roof. It also notes that the house survived years of neglect with a great deal of early fabric intact. Insurance records document it as the center of a once-prosperous plantation.","narrative":"Olive Hill is a two-story white frame plantation house set in an open field on a cliff above the Appomattox River near Matoaca. Roger Atkinson bought the plantation in 1755, and the house was probably built within the following decade. His son, Roger II, inherited the house and 1300 acres and lived there until 1829. Insurance policies from the early 1800s show a farm complex around the house, with a kitchen, schoolhouse, slave quarters and later a large barn. The house has an unusual plan, with a narrow stair passage across one corner and a large hall behind it. Its best-known feature is a Chinese lattice stair with a molded handrail, comparable to the one at Battersea in Petersburg. The pedimented roof is not original, and the reason for the change remains unclear. After decline in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the house was restored, and it retains much early fabric, including wrought hardware and original blinds.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and unaltered, in use as a private residence, with restoration completed by later owners and new wings added to the west and east ends.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.215638-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/6801/41680144/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/75002017.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002017/6f30458e17-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002017/6f30458e17-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olive_Hill_driveway.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olive_Hill_driveway.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680144","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Hill_(Matoaca,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713025"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/chesterfield-county/olive-hill-75002017/"}