{"nrhp_refnum":"80004202","name":"Montezuma","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE of Norwood on VA 626","address_restricted":false,"city":"Norwood","county":"Nelson County","state":"VA","lat":37.64859000300004,"lon":-78.80098194099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Montezuma is a two-story Flemish bond brick house with a 1½-story wing, built around 1790 northeast of Norwood in Nelson County, Virginia, on a hill facing the James River. It is one of a group of Cabell family houses in the county.","why_significant":"The nomination presents Montezuma as a notable example of Piedmont Virginia Federal architecture, set apart by its scale, unusual four-room plan, fine woodwork and Roman Doric portico. It was built when substantial brick houses were still rare in central Virginia. It is also tied to the Cabell family, early settlers of Nelson County, and is one of the few surviving Cabell houses.","narrative":"Montezuma is a brick plantation house northeast of Norwood in Nelson County, Virginia, built around 1790. Its two-story main block and 1½-story wing are laid in Flemish bond and face the James River from a hill. A Roman Doric portico dominates the front. Behind the nearly balanced facade lies an unusual plan of four rooms and a short passage, with a steep stair and an arch. Interior woodwork is notable, including reeded arches, cabinets, grained doors and decorated mantels. Tradition links Thomas Jefferson to the design, but no documentation confirms it. The house is associated with William Cabell, Jr., whose family settled the county in the early 18th century and built nearly a dozen distinguished houses nearby. Later owners included the lawyer Thomas S. McClelland, who bought it in 1813. Outbuildings, a partly log kitchen, ruins and boxwood garden remnants stand on the seven-acre nominated tract. The house was valued highly through the 19th century.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1790","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Piedmont Virginia Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied, in good condition, altered; listed as a private residence with work in progress at the time of nomination.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.496263-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/6820/41682023/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/80004202.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004202/c6b1636638-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004202/c6b1636638-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Eli Pousson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montezuma,_Norwood,_Virginia.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Eli Pousson</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Montezuma,_Norwood,_Virginia.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682023","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montezuma_(Norwood,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6905518"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/nelson-county/montezuma-80004202/"}