{"nrhp_refnum":"89001879","name":"Whitethorn","other_names":["60-241"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 685, 1 mi. W of jct. with US 460","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blacksburg","county":"Montgomery County","state":"VA","lat":37.20863056300004,"lon":-80.45083673499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-11-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Whitethorn is a very large brick farmhouse with a two-story brick office outbuilding, on a farm west of Blacksburg in Montgomery County, Virginia. It was built around 1855 for James Francis Preston on part of the Preston family land.","why_significant":"The nomination argues significance under Criterion C as an important and unusual substantial farmhouse. It is well preserved and largely unaltered, with sophisticated detailing and plan features more typical of large farmhouses in eastern Virginia and Kentucky. Its L-shaped plan with a secondary entry facade and L-shaped passage are unusual for farmhouses in the area.","narrative":"Whitethorn is a large brick farmhouse west of Blacksburg, built around 1855 for James Francis Preston, a county farmer, lawyer and grandson of early political leader William Preston. The house combines Italian Villa and Greek Revival features, including a shallow hipped roof, a deep bracketed cornice, six-over-six windows with louvered blinds, and a five-bay porch with Tuscan columns. Its L-shaped plan places an ell under the main roof, giving a second entry facade on the southwest side, and an L-shaped hall holds a main stair and a smaller secondary stair, both of cherry. Early twentieth-century additions fill the angle of the ell. A two-story brick office is the only outbuilding that survives from a once extensive collection. The nomination considers the house significant for its architecture, noting its sophisticated detailing, unusual plan and good preservation. The listed area covers about four acres around the house and office.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1855","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Mid-19th century: Italian Villa; Mid-19th century: Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a single dwelling with a secondary structure; the house is well preserved, though most outbuildings and slave houses have been lost in recent decades.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.578023-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/6787/41678780/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89001879.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001879/e40dcb99e3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001879/e40dcb99e3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Kenneth Novy","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Whitethorn_(Blacksburg,_Virginia)_September_2012.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenneth Novy</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:Whitethorn_(Blacksburg,_Virginia)_September_2012.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678780","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitethorn_(Blacksburg,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713527"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/montgomery-county/whitethorn-89001879/"}