{"nrhp_refnum":"84003542","name":"Clark, Reuben, House","other_names":["Willow Dell"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"125 S. Willard Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hampton (Independent City)","county":"Hampton","state":"VA","lat":37.01462773800006,"lon":-76.31964398399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-08-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood-frame house known as Willow Dell at 125 South Willard Avenue, Hampton, Virginia, built in 1854 for merchant and steamboat captain Reuben Clark on a 1.8-acre tract near Mill Creek.","why_significant":"It is one of Hampton's oldest surviving residences and its only example of the Picturesque style, with details likely drawn from A.J. Downing's Cottage Residences. The property also drew attention during the Civil War, when the Union Navy drew water from its large well for the boilers of the steamship Minnesota. The now-covered well has archaeological potential.","narrative":"Built in 1854 at 125 South Willard Avenue in Hampton, Virginia, Willow Dell was the home of Reuben Clark, a New York-born steamboat captain who became a merchant, ran a store and owned a tavern. The two-story wood-frame house follows the Picturesque style, with lattice-post porches, ornamental roof brackets and a shallow hip roof. The form suggests Clark drew on pattern books such as A.J. Downing's Cottage Residences. It is described as Hampton's only Picturesque example and one of its oldest surviving houses. A kitchen wing and an enlarged dining room were added between 1901 and 1904, with further additions in the 1920s, yet the original hall, stair and parlor mantels survive. The house occupies its original 1.8-acre lot, unusually large for Hampton. During the Civil War, Union forces used the well on the property to supply water to the steamship Minnesota. The covered well may hold archaeological evidence.","period_of_significance":"1854","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Picturesque","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied private residence; the form reports additions of 1901-04 and the 1920s, and says none of the original outbuildings survive.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.491508-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/1/6811/41681101/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/84003542.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003542/3522f38048-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003542/3522f38048-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:REUBEN_CLARK_HOUSE,_HAMPTON,_VA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ, M.D.</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:REUBEN_CLARK_HOUSE,_HAMPTON,_VA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681101","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_Clark_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15272380"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/hampton/clark-reuben-house-84003542/"}