{"nrhp_refnum":"83003257","name":"Geddes","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SR 700","address_restricted":false,"city":"Clifford","county":"Amherst County","state":"VA","lat":37.66613764600007,"lon":-78.98725259147687,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Geddes is a 1½-story frame farmhouse on Route 700 near Clifford in Amherst County, Virginia. The oldest part dates to about 1762 and was enlarged in the early 19th century, with porches and an ell added in the mid-19th century.","why_significant":"The nomination argues Geddes is a vernacular late-Colonial frame house that has survived virtually intact since its early 19th-century enlargement. It was built for Hugh Rose, a militia colonel and Assembly member who sheltered Thomas Jefferson's family in 1781. It is also one of Amherst County's few surviving Colonial-period buildings.","narrative":"Geddes is a long, 1½-story frame farmhouse set in a shallow valley of open fields near Clifford, Amherst County, with views toward the Blue Ridge. Local residents long called it the county's oldest house. The earliest two rooms date to about 1762 and were built for Hugh Rose, son of the Anglican clergyman and diarist Robert Rose. Around 1800 a center hall and west rooms were added, creating the present center-hall plan, and mid-19th-century porches and a rear ell followed. Inside are Federal mantels, built-in press cupboards, early feather graining and a steep open-string stair. Hugh Rose served as a militia colonel and represented Amherst County in the General Assembly. He is remembered as a friend of Thomas Jefferson, whose family stayed at Geddes during the 1781 British raid on Charlottesville. Descendants of the Rose and Claiborne families have owned the property since, and the house survives as one of the county's few Colonial-era buildings.","period_of_significance":"Late 18th - Mid-19th Century","architect_builder":"Hugh Rose","architectural_style":"Vernacular late-Colonial frame building with Federal interior detailing","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied private residence in fair condition, unaltered and on its original site; only a springhouse survives of the former outbuildings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.33246-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/43/6795/41679543/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/83003257.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003257/30081fc4ac-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003257/30081fc4ac-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geddes_farmhouse_from_the_road.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geddes_farmhouse_from_the_road.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679543","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geddes_(Clifford,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712351"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/amherst-county/geddes-83003257/"}