{"nrhp_refnum":"87000692","name":"Bell House","other_names":["House at 821 Irving Avenue"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"821 Irving Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Colonial Beach","county":"Westmoreland County","state":"VA","lat":38.24084155700007,"lon":-76.95796896699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-09-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture","Invention"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story wood-frame Stick Style house at 821 Irving Avenue in Colonial Beach, Westmoreland County, Virginia, built between 1883 and 1885. It sits on about half an acre with a late 19th-century privy and a ca. 1930 garage.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is one of the most important examples of Stick Style residential architecture in Virginia, a style that is rare in the state. It is also the only building in Virginia directly associated with inventor Alexander Graham Bell, who inherited it in 1907 and held it until 1918. It also represents the wood-frame cottages built in Colonial Beach during its 1880s development as a Potomac River resort.","narrative":"Overlooking the Potomac River from Irving Avenue in Colonial Beach, this 2½-story wood-frame house was built between 1883 and 1885 during the town's first subdivision and growth as a river resort. It is a rare Virginia example of the Stick Style, with a cross-gable roof, a central pyramidal-roofed tower, projecting gables, a wraparound porch with turned posts and sawn brackets, and colored-glass window sashes. Inside, the central stair hall, bull's eye corner blocks and mantels with mirrored overmantels survive. The house also has a strong family connection. Alexander Melville Bell, father of telephone inventor Alexander Graham Bell, bought it in 1886 as a summer home. The inventor inherited it in 1907 and the family kept it until 1918. Local tradition says he flew kites and flying machines from its balcony. A late 19th-century privy contributes to the property, while a ca. 1930 garage does not.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Stick Style","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; the form says the owners were restoring it, and the condition is listed as good and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.823307-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/6841/41684110/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/87000692.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000692/c9ff877281-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87000692/c9ff877281-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Suzyramble","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Graham_Bell%27s_Summer_Home_in_Colonial_Beach,_Virginia.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Suzyramble</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alexander_Graham_Bell%27s_Summer_Home_in_Colonial_Beach,_Virginia.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684110","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_House_(Colonial_Beach,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4883187"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/westmoreland-county/bell-house-87000692/"}