{"nrhp_refnum":"79003302","name":"Oaks, The","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"437 E. Beverly St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Staunton (Independent City)","county":"Staunton","state":"VA","lat":38.151579681000044,"lon":-79.06566214999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-06-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 21-room, three-story brick house at 437 East Beverley Street in Staunton, Virginia, with a chalet-style rear wing. The front section was built 1888-1890 for Major Jedediah Hotchkiss with the Boston firm Winslow & Wetherell.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the most historically and architecturally significant structures in Staunton. It was the home of Jedediah Hotchkiss, a Confederate mapmaker, surveyor, land speculator and educator. Its design resists conventional style labels, showing Shingle Style elements in brick, and it has rich Victorian interior craftsmanship.","narrative":"Built between 1888 and 1890 on East Beverley Street in Staunton, The Oaks is a 21-room, three-story brick house that resists easy stylistic labels. Its restrained three-bay facade shows Shingle Style features such as recessed sleeping porches, topped by a complex hip roof with carved modillion blocks. Behind it stands an older chalet-style wing with wide eaves and large wooden brackets. Inside are seven mantelpieces by local craftsmen, cedar paneling and wainscoting, stained-glass windows with oak motifs, brass fixtures, built-in cupboards and a stand-up desk. The house was the home of Major Jedediah Hotchkiss from 1868 until his death in 1899. He was a mapmaker for Confederate generals Lee and Jackson, and later a surveyor, land and coal speculator, writer and educator. He worked with the Boston firm Winslow & Wetherell and closely supervised construction. The house stayed in his family until the 1940s and is now a private residence that also hosts theater performances.","period_of_significance":"1888-1890","architect_builder":"Major Jedediah Hotchkiss; Winslow & Wetherell, Boston","architectural_style":"Difficult to categorize; exhibits some elements of the Shingle Style, executed in brick","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in good, unaltered condition; used as a private residence and as the home of Theater Wagon, Inc., with performances in the former dining room.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.809638-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/6837/41683785/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/79003302.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003302/5f930b1676-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003302/5f930b1676-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Oaks_on_Beverley,_Staunton.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Oaks_on_Beverley,_Staunton.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85000299","name":"Gospel Hill Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/gospel-hill-historic-district-85000299/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683785","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oaks_(Staunton,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7754589"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/staunton/oaks-the-79003302/"}