{"nrhp_refnum":"90001841","name":"Locust Level","other_names":["VDHR Site No. 9-18"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"US 460 W of jct. with VA 695","address_restricted":false,"city":"Montvale","county":"Bedford (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.38553542000005,"lon":-79.73797053568774,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-12-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Locust Level is an early-nineteenth-century brick I house with associated outbuildings and a family cemetery, on U.S. Route 460 at Montvale in western Bedford County, Virginia. Paschal G. Buford built it in the 1820s near the eastern approaches to Buford's Gap.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it one of the finest, most intact Federal-style houses in Bedford County, with refined exterior and interior detailing. It also qualifies for its use as guest lodging on an important route linking Southwest Virginia with the Piedmont and Tidewater. It is further tied to Paschal G. Buford, a locally significant landowner, agronomist and developer.","narrative":"Locust Level is a two-story brick house in Montvale, Bedford County, Virginia, built in the 1820s by Paschal G. Buford near the eastern approaches to Buford's Gap. It is a central-passage I house with Flemish bond brickwork on the front, a finely crafted cornice, and a fanlight entry. Inside, the Federal detailing survives almost unaltered, including mantels, built-in presses and a suspended stair. A rear frame wing, once a separate guesthouse, and a detached kitchen and dining room from the earlier Henry Buford house stand nearby. Other features include a log meat house, a log springhouse, a chimney from a lost kitchen, granite mounting blocks and a family cemetery. The property is recognized for its architectural refinement, for its use as guest lodging on the historic road through Buford's Gap, and for its link to Buford, one of the county's wealthiest landowners and mill owners in the nineteenth century.","period_of_significance":"late 18th C. - 1882","architect_builder":"Buford, Paschal G. (builder); architect unknown","architectural_style":"Colonial: Georgian; Early Republic: Federal; Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Current functions listed are single dwelling and cemetery; the main house has no front porch after a 1920s porch was recently removed.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.971246-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/6797/41679764/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/90001841.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001841/cc46a8547e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90001841/cc46a8547e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Locust_Level_near_Montvale.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Locust_Level_near_Montvale.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679764","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locust_Level","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712732"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/bedford/locust-level-90001841/"}