{"nrhp_refnum":"80004163","name":"Esmont","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Esmont","address_restricted":false,"city":"Esmont","county":"Albemarle County","state":"VA","lat":37.842284837500074,"lon":-78.60626741018777,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Jeffersonian-style dwelling with four early brick outbuildings on a 109-acre tract near the hamlet of Esmont in southern Albemarle County, Virginia. It was built between 1816 and 1820 by Dr. Charles Cocke.","why_significant":"The house shows how strongly Thomas Jefferson's architectural style influenced the homes of his friends and neighbors in the Virginia Piedmont. No documents tie Jefferson or his workmen to its design, but its Roman Doric porch, Chinese lattice railings, full Doric entablature and triple-hung sashes are characteristic of his work. Its interior detailing is also unusually fine, including a herringbone floor like the one at Monticello.","narrative":"Esmont is a large, square brick house on a knoll in southern Albemarle County, Virginia, facing north across open and wooded rolling land. Built between 1816 and 1820 for Dr. Charles Cocke, it has two stories, three bays, Flemish-bond brickwork, a tetrastyle Roman Doric porch and a low hipped roof with a balustrade of Chinese lattice panels. No record shows that Thomas Jefferson or his workmen designed it, yet its motifs closely echo his work, and Cocke was related to people who built Jefferson-influenced houses nearby. Inside, a herringbone passage floor resembles the one at Monticello, and the main rooms have geometric plaster ceilings and dark marble mantels. Early door hardware survives. Four brick outbuildings remain, including a kitchen, an office, a dairy and a smokehouse. A restoration took place between 1952 and 1954. The property is valued as a well-preserved example of Jefferson's influence on Piedmont country houses.","period_of_significance":"1816-1820","architect_builder":"Dr. Charles Cocke (builder/owner); designer unknown","architectural_style":"Jeffersonian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; the house was restored between 1952 and 1954, and a small kitchen wing was added on the west side in recent years.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:58.086101-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/5/6793/41679305/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/80004163.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004163/9cb7f0f1bc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004163/9cb7f0f1bc-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esmont_estate_house.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Esmont_estate_house.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"07001236","name":"Southern Albemarle Rural Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/southern-albemarle-rural-historic-district-07001236/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679305","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esmont","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712290"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/albemarle-county/esmont-80004163/"}