{"nrhp_refnum":"89000486","name":"Evelynton","other_names":["DHL File 18-64"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 5 E of VA 609","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charles City","county":"Charles City County","state":"VA","lat":37.329252559000054,"lon":-77.15406698195306,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-08-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Evelynton is a two-story brick Colonial Revival country house with flanking dependencies and a frame servants' quarters, on the highest elevation in Charles City County, Virginia. W. Duncan Lee designed it in 1937 for Mr. and Mrs. John Augustine Ruffin, Jr.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Evelynton represents the academic phase of the Colonial Revival at its zenith. It is a sophisticated blend of 18th-century Tidewater models, especially Carter's Grove, adapted to modern living by the prominent architect W. Duncan Lee. The site also has Byrd and Ruffin family associations and Civil War history.","narrative":"Evelynton is a brick country house on the highest ground in Charles City County, Virginia, reached by a quarter-mile tree-lined lane. Architect W. Duncan Lee designed it in 1937 for John Augustine Ruffin, Jr., and his wife, replacing a 19th-century farmhouse on the site. Lee had recently restored Carter's Grove, and that house strongly shaped Evelynton's plan, staircase and interior detail. Other Tidewater models, including Shirley, Westover, Gunston Hall and Kenmore, also influenced the design. The main block and its flanking dependencies are laid in Flemish bond, with hyphens that hold service areas. A boxwood garden lies east of the house, and a frame servants' quarters from the early twentieth century stands about 150 feet to the west. The land was once part of the Byrd family's Buckland plantation, was bought by Edmund Ruffin, Jr., in 1847, and saw skirmishing in 1862. The property was listed for its architecture, as a leading example of the Colonial Revival at its height.","period_of_significance":"1937","architect_builder":"W. Duncan Lee, Architect","architectural_style":"20th-century revival - Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Single dwelling open for tours and as a conference center; reopened to the public in 1985.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.969972-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/6800/41680004/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89000486.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000486/611cd4f244-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000486/611cd4f244-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:EVELYN.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</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:EVELYN.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680004","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelynton","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712300"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/charles-city-county/evelynton-89000486/"}