{"nrhp_refnum":"91002040","name":"Wheatland Manor","other_names":["VDHR Site No. 11-38"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N side VA 639 1/4 mi. SE of jct. with VA 638","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fincastle","county":"Botetourt County","state":"VA","lat":37.50458492900003,"lon":-79.80605845199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Wheatland Manor is a two-story brick house with a Greek Revival porch and brick ell, located about four miles east of Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia. The I house section dates to the 1820s and the porch and ell to the 1850s, on a 4.04-acre nominated parcel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is a well-preserved example of an early nineteenth-century I house that was enlarged in the 1850s with Greek Revival additions, retaining Federal and Greek Revival interior detailing and early paint and finishes. It also documents the history of a large Botetourt County farm worked by enslaved labor under owners such as the Rowland family and Rufus Pitzer. The 1850s limestone retaining wall and garden features add to its significance.","narrative":"Wheatland Manor is a brick farmhouse about four miles east of Fincastle in Botetourt County, Virginia. Its south-facing front section is a five-bay, center-passage I house built in the 1820s. In the 1850s a two-story Greek Revival porch with fluted Doric columns was added across the front, along with a two-story brick ell. A one-story frame kitchen was added around 1900. Inside, the house keeps Federal-style mantels and woodwork, grained doors, and traces of early paint and wallpaper, some uncovered during restoration in 1991. Outside, a limestone retaining wall from the 1850s runs nearly half a mile along Route 639. Local tradition says it was built by enslaved workers supervised by an Irish canal laborer. The nominated parcel also includes a terraced garden, ice house ruins, and several twentieth-century farm buildings. Records trace ownership from the Rowland family to Rufus Pitzer, whose farm became one of the larger operations in the county by 1860.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal; Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Restoration work was underway in 1991; the property was in use as a single dwelling, with work in progress noted.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.584096-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/8/6798/41679808/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/91002040.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91002040/374c3bed00-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91002040/374c3bed00-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wheatland_Manor.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wheatland_Manor.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679808","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheatland_Manor","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14713524"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/botetourt-county/wheatland-manor-91002040/"}