{"nrhp_refnum":"89001933","name":"Virginia House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4301 Sulgrave Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.55339611200003,"lon":-77.50308267899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-06-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Virginia House is a two-story stone dwelling on a nine-acre lot at 4301 Sulgrave Road in the Windsor Farms area of west Richmond, Virginia. It was built between 1925 and 1928 from the salvaged parts of English manor houses.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a noteworthy example of an early twentieth-century building type: a composite of European manor houses taken apart, shipped and reassembled in America. Architect Henry Grant Morse combined parts of Warwick Priory with designs based on Wormleighton Manor and Sulgrave Manor. Later additions by William Lawrence Bottomley and gardens by Charles F. Gillette add to its architectural importance.","narrative":"Virginia House is a large, asymmetrical stone dwelling on a hilltop in Richmond's Windsor Farms, overlooking the James River. Ambassador Alexander Weddell and his wife, Virginia, bought the Warwick Priory in Warwickshire, England, at a demolition sale in 1925, and had it rebuilt in Virginia. New York architect Henry Grant Morse combined the priory's Flemish gables, sandstone and limestone with designs based on two other English houses, Wormleighton Manor and Sulgrave Manor. Construction ran from 1925 to 1928 and cost nearly $237,000. Inside are oak paneling from several English manors, leaded glass, and a secret passage between the library and Weddell's study. William Lawrence Bottomley designed a classical loggia in the 1940s, and Charles F. Gillette laid out Tudor-style gardens sloping toward the river. The house is valued as a rare and carefully assembled composite of European architecture. The Virginia Historical Society later used it for exhibits and meetings.","period_of_significance":"1925-1939","architect_builder":"Henry Grant Morse, Architect; William Lawrence Bottomley, Architect; Charles F. Gillette, Landscape Architect; built by Allen J. Saville, Inc.","architectural_style":"Tudor: Jacobean; Neoclassical","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Current functions listed are museum and clubhouse; the Virginia Historical Society uses the house for exhibits, board meetings and research. The sandstone walls show serious spalling and erosion.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.958986-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/6830/41683089/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89001933.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001933/8e11781e4f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001933/8e11781e4f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Jennifer M. Guild, Media Relations Specialist, Virginia Historical Society","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virginia_House_front.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jennifer M. Guild, Media Relations Specialist, Virginia Historical Society</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Virginia_House_front.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"71000982","name":"James River and Kanawha Canal Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/james-river-and-kanawha-canal-historic-district-71000982/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683089","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2527772"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/virginia-house-89001933/"}