{"nrhp_refnum":"92000044","name":"Bloomsbury","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Off VA 20 W of jct. with VA 600","address_restricted":false,"city":"Orange","county":"Orange County","state":"VA","lat":38.25739118900003,"lon":-78.05864352768728,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-02-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large rural farm tract about two miles west of the town of Orange, Virginia, centered on a frame colonial farmhouse. The one-and-a-half-story original section is traditionally dated to 1722 and was doubled in size around 1797.","why_significant":"The house is a largely unaltered example of early vernacular Virginia domestic architecture. Its original section has an unusual floorplan and a U-plan stair of a form unknown elsewhere in Virginia. It also keeps late-Georgian and Federal interior detailing. The surrounding sunken garden and bowling green, cemeteries and rural setting add to its value.","narrative":"Bloomsbury is a 377-acre farm property in rural Orange County, Virginia, about two miles west of the town of Orange. Its focal point is a frame farmhouse that grew in stages. The original one-and-a-half-story section, built for the Taylor family, is dated by family tradition to 1722, though the architecture suggests no later than the mid-1700s. Around 1797, after William Quarles bought the property, a two-story Federal-style block was added at right angles, and early lean-tos flank it. The older section has an unusual floorplan and a U-plan stair, described as unknown elsewhere in Virginia, with a landing family tradition calls a musicians' gallery. Most original interior and exterior detailing survives, and the house was restored in the 1960s. The grounds include a sunken garden and bowling green, a smokehouse and two family cemeteries. The nomination presents the house as an outstanding, largely unaltered example of early vernacular architecture, enhanced by its agricultural setting.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial: Southern Colonial; Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"The house was carefully restored in the mid-1960s and now serves as a private museum. A modern mobile home occupied by tenants stands on the property.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.664499-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/40/6823/41682340/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/92000044.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000044/97eb5856e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000044/97eb5856e5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Ser Amantio di Nicolao","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloomsbury_marker_and_county_airport,_Orange,_VA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ser Amantio di Nicolao</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bloomsbury_marker_and_county_airport,_Orange,_VA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682340","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomsbury_(Orange,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15199868"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/orange-county/bloomsbury-92000044/"}