{"nrhp_refnum":"80004204","name":"Soldier's Joy","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SE of Shipman on VA 626","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wingina","county":"Nelson County","state":"VA","lat":37.64130255300006,"lon":-78.73161359222648,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-11-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Soldier's Joy is a large Late-Georgian frame dwelling southeast of Shipman on VA 626 in Nelson County, Virginia, built in 1784-85 for Samuel Jordan Cabell by builder James Robards, and enlarged about twenty-five years later.","why_significant":"It is one of the few surviving Cabell family houses in Nelson County and one of the family's most ambitious building efforts. It is notable for its proportions and interior detailing, and for its unusually complete documentation, including the original building contract. It is also tied to Samuel Jordan Cabell, a Revolutionary officer and congressman whose circular letters fed into the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798.","narrative":"Soldier's Joy is a Late-Georgian frame house southeast of Shipman in Nelson County, Virginia. William Cabell, Jr. contracted with builder James Robards to construct it for his son, Samuel Jordan Cabell, between 1783 and 1785. The detailed contract and floor plan survive, giving unusually complete documentation of the original single-pile, center-passage house. Around the first decade of the 19th century, hyphens and wings were added, creating a five-part Palladian composition with fine Federal interiors, including a ballroom. After the property was bought in 1924, the wings and west hyphen were demolished and their woodwork sold; the ballroom fireplace wall is now in the Cincinnati Art Museum. The original block and east hyphen remain, now part of a working dairy farm. The house is one of the few Cabell family houses left in the county. Samuel Cabell served as a Continental Army officer and Virginia congressman, and his 1797 circular letters contributed to the controversy behind the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.","period_of_significance":"1783-1785","architect_builder":"James Robards","architectural_style":"Late-Georgian (later expanded into a 5-part Palladian house with Federal interiors)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence and operated as a large dairy farm; the house and grounds are described as well maintained and not threatened. The early 19th-century wings and west hyphen were demolished after 1924.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.969541-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/25/6820/41682025/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/80004204.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004204/2861ceb6e7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004204/2861ceb6e7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Eli Pousson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Soldier%27s_Joy,_Nelson_County,_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:Soldier%27s_Joy,_Nelson_County,_Virginia.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100004305","name":"Norwood-Wingina Rural Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/norwood-wingina-rural-historic-district-100004305/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682025","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier%27s_Joy_(house)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7557241"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/nelson-county/soldiers-joy-80004204/"}