{"nrhp_refnum":"76002091","name":"Grace Church","other_names":["Grace Church, Cismont"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE of Cismont on VA 231","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cismont","county":"Albemarle County","state":"VA","lat":38.06088472700003,"lon":-78.30821057599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-10-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Grace Church is a Gothic Revival Episcopal church with an adjacent cemetery, on a hill above Route 231 near Cismont in Albemarle County, Virginia. It was built around 1847 to designs by William Strickland and rebuilt inside after a fire in 1895.","why_significant":"It is the only known work in Virginia by William Strickland, a leading American architect of the first half of the nineteenth century. Strickland mostly designed in the Greek Revival style, so his Gothic works are comparatively rare. The exterior survives essentially as he designed it, and the church was commissioned by Mrs. William Cabell Rives of nearby Castle Hill.","narrative":"Set among ancient trees on a hill above Route 231 near Cismont, Grace Church is a Gothic Revival parish church with an adjoining cemetery. Built at mid-century from drawings signed by architect William Strickland in 1847, it is his only known work in Virginia. Strickland, a student of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, is best known for Greek Revival landmarks such as the Second Bank of the United States in Philadelphia, which makes this Gothic design unusual. Mrs. William Cabell Rives of Castle Hill promoted the building as a fine example of architecture. The ashlar exterior has a square central tower, a gabled entrance portal, corner buttresses with pinnacles and lancet windows. A fire in 1895 gutted the interior, and the rebuilding added a larger chancel and shifted the church toward a High Church orientation. The exterior remains close to Strickland's design, and the congregation is still active. The church succeeded a colonial chapel called Walkers.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"William Strickland; interior woodwork by McSparren","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"The church continues to house an active congregation; the form lists it as occupied and in religious use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.855265-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/81/6793/41679381/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/76002091.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"92000054","name":"Southwest Mountains Rural Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/southwest-mountains-rural-historic-district-92000054/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679381","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Episcopal_Church_(Keswick,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5591123"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/albemarle-county/grace-church-76002091/"}