{"nrhp_refnum":"87000007","name":"Sonner Hall (Additional Documentation)","other_names":["Main Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3rd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Front Royal","county":"Warren County","state":"VA","lat":38.923056528000075,"lon":-78.19829741799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-01-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Sonner Hall, historically the Main Building of Randolph-Macon Academy, is a 3½-story brick Colonial Revival school building on a small hill off 3rd Street in Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia. It was built in 1927 to plans by John P. Pettyjohn of Lynchburg.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a visually prominent landmark and the best preserved Colonial Revival building in Front Royal. It replaced the academy's 1892 main building, destroyed by fire, and remains the heart of the last surviving preparatory school of the Randolph-Macon System. The school has offered military instruction since 1917 and is described as the only military preparatory boarding school in the nation operating under the United Methodist Church.","narrative":"Sonner Hall is the principal building of Randolph-Macon Academy in Front Royal, Virginia. Built in 1927 to plans by John P. Pettyjohn of Lynchburg, it is a U-shaped, 3½-story brick structure in the Colonial Revival style. Its east facade has nineteen bays, a tetrastyle pedimented portico with Greek Ionic columns, and a slate-covered gambrel roof topped by a ribbed dome with a lantern that can be seen for miles. The building replaced the academy's 1892 main hall, designed by William Poindexter, which burned in January 1927; the swimming pool survived and was incorporated into the new structure. Rebuilding cost $254,000 and followed Poindexter's main-hall plan, with added fireproofing. The school, founded as part of the Randolph-Macon System, became a military academy in 1917 and is described as the only military preparatory boarding school in the nation under United Methodist Church auspices. The hall still holds dormitories, faculty apartments, classrooms, offices and the dining room.","period_of_significance":"1927","architect_builder":"J. P. Pettyjohn (John P. Pettyjohn of Lynchburg)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as the principal building of Randolph-Macon Academy, housing faculty and students, classrooms and administration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.921883-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/6840/41684031/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/87000007.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000007/91f2c9b68d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000007/91f2c9b68d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Antepenultimate","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sonner_Hall_RMC_20150328.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Antepenultimate</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:Sonner_Hall_RMC_20150328.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684031","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonner_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15278547"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/warren-county/sonner-hall-additional-documentation-87000007/"}