{"nrhp_refnum":"78003035","name":"Oakridge","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Blackstone off VA 626","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blackstone","county":"Nottoway County","state":"VA","lat":37.084456843000055,"lon":-78.0903797720027,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-01-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Oakridge is an early nineteenth-century frame plantation dwelling on a 60-acre rolling farm tract near Blackstone in Nottoway County, Virginia, built late in the eighteenth or early in the nineteenth century by Burwell Smith.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the house as a fine example of the residence of a prosperous Early Republican planter in Southside Piedmont Virginia. It is particularly noted for its Chinese Chippendale stair, since Chinese lattice stair railings are rare in Virginia and this particular pattern has not been observed elsewhere. The interior also retains decorated paneled mantels and many original doors and locks.","narrative":"Oakridge is a frame plantation house on a rolling 60-acre farm near Blackstone in Nottoway County, Virginia. Burwell Smith, who began buying land along Whetstone Creek and the Little Nottoway River in 1793, built it late in the eighteenth or early in the nineteenth century. Land tax records show buildings on the property by 1820, and tradition places the house around 1800. The dwelling has a two-story, three-bay western section and a story-and-a-half east wing, with Flemish-bond brick chimneys, modillion cornice, and nine-over-nine and nine-over-six window sash. Twentieth-century additions hold a kitchen and dining room. Inside, the side-passage plan includes recessed-panel wainscoting, mantels flanked by fluted Roman Doric pilasters, and many original six-panel doors. Its most notable feature is a Chinese Chippendale stair, a rare form in Virginia whose pattern has not been seen elsewhere. The house is valued as a representative home of a prosperous Southside tobacco-belt planter. It remains in excellent condition as a private residence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Burwell Smith","architectural_style":"Early Republican; Chinese Chippendale stair","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in excellent condition, and used as a private residence and farm.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.540592-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/16/6823/41682316/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/78003035.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78003035/ae725b1e42-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78003035/ae725b1e42-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Danny Sprinkle","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oakridge_in_Nottoway.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Danny Sprinkle</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oakridge_in_Nottoway.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682316","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakridge_(Blackstone,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15263228"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/nottoway-county/oakridge-78003035/"}