{"nrhp_refnum":"79003065","name":"Beaver, John, House","other_names":["Thomas Shirley House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Stanley on VA 615","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem","county":"Page County","state":"VA","lat":38.63021946900005,"lon":-78.56271212899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick farmhouse, also known as the Thomas Shirley House, in the Massanutten Old Fields area near Stanley in Page County, Virginia. The original section was built in 1825-26 by John Beaver, and a kitchen/dining ell was added in the late 19th century.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house reflects the blending of Continental settlers' building traditions with standard early-19th-century western Virginia architecture. Continental features include the double-entry, four-bay facade and rare diaper-pattern brickwork. The hall-parlor plan, interior decoration and construction are typical of the region, and the surviving outbuildings are significant as building types.","narrative":"Set among the open farmlands of Massanutten Old Fields near the Shenandoah River in Page County, Virginia, this two-story brick house was built in 1825-26 by John Beaver. A kitchen and dining ell was added after 1880. The original block has a four-bay facade with a pair of front doors, Flemish bond brickwork, gauged jack arches and a tall diaper pattern of glazed headers between the openings. Inside, the plan is two equal rooms with enclosed winder stairs, plain woodwork, recessed-panel wainscoting and many surviving early spring locks. A brick smokehouse and wash room also remain. The property matters as an example of how Continental settlers' traditions, seen in the double entry and diaper brickwork, merged with standard early-19th-century western Virginia building practice. Land tax records support the construction date, showing a jump in building value in 1826 for a new house. Beaver's wife, Nancy Strickler, descended from an early Valley settler, and the house later passed to the Shirley family.","period_of_significance":"1825-1826; late 19th Century","architect_builder":"John Beaver","architectural_style":"Transitional between 18th-century Continental style and early 19th-century western Virginia vernacular; Greek Revival mantels in the ell","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in good condition, and used for agriculture and as a private residence; in recent years it has served as a tenant farm.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:58.074374-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/6824/41682404/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/79003065.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003065/5d4eea187c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003065/5d4eea187c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Beaver_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Beaver_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682404","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Beaver_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15229648"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/page-county/beaver-john-house-79003065/"}