{"nrhp_refnum":"79003050","name":"Carlheim","other_names":["Paxton Home For Children"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Leesburg on U.S. 15","address_restricted":false,"city":"Leesburg","county":"Loudoun County","state":"VA","lat":39.122780437000046,"lon":-77.55654546231003,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-12-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Carlheim is a Victorian estate north of Leesburg, off U.S. Route 15 in Loudoun County, Virginia. It has a large dark sandstone mansion, outbuildings and remains of a landscaped park, built in the early 1870s for Charles R. Paxton.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Carlheim is a rare Virginia example of upper-class mid-Victorian architecture, since the post-Civil War economic ruin left few grand houses of the 1860s and 1870s. Its design blends Second Empire and Italian Villa styles. Most of its original service buildings survive, and it later became a children's home under Mrs. Paxton's will.","narrative":"Carlheim is a Victorian country estate just north of Leesburg, Virginia, built in the early 1870s for Charles R. Paxton, president of the Bloomsburg Iron Company, and his wife. The thirty-two-room mansion, designed by New York architect Henry C. Dudley and built by John Norris, is made of dark brown Seneca sandstone with pinkish stone trim. Its stepped-back facade, tall square tower and mansard roof show both Italian Villa and Second Empire influence. Inside, marble mantels, plasterwork and a large stair survive. Outbuildings include a stone barn and carriage house, a cross-shaped peacock house, a manager's house, an ice house and a smokehouse. The estate matters because Virginia's postwar poverty left few grand houses of this period. After Mrs. Paxton died in 1922, her will turned the property into a children's home, which it remains. Institutional use has altered some interiors and grounds, but the essential elements are intact.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Henry C. Dudley, Architect; John Norris, Builder","architectural_style":"Second Empire / Italianate (Italian Villa) Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as a home for children (Paxton Home for Children); the form says the buildings are kept in generally good repair, though the main house has an institutional air and a temporary flat roof covers the tower.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.332676-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/6816/41681621/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/79003050.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003050/d3c998a7ac-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003050/d3c998a7ac-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"SBmeier at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Carlheim_in_snow_Dec2009J.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">SBmeier at English Wikipedia</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:Carlheim_in_snow_Dec2009J.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681621","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlheim","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5041277"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/loudoun-county/carlheim-79003050/"}