{"nrhp_refnum":"97000204","name":"Versailles","other_names":["66-96"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 360, .25 mi. W of jct. with VA 200","address_restricted":false,"city":"Burgess","county":"Northumberland County","state":"VA","lat":37.88736404900004,"lon":-76.35201910199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-02-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Versailles is a two-and-one-half-story wood-frame dwelling on a raised brick basement along State Route 360 near Burgess, Northumberland County, Virginia. It was built between 1853 and 1857 for Samuel B. Burgess.","why_significant":"The nomination cites architectural significance at the local level under Criterion C. It highlights the two-tier pedimented front portico with original woodwork and an unusual railing pattern, along with well-preserved Greek Revival interior details such as the curving stair. It is also described as an excellent example of a group of late antebellum county plantation houses apparently by the same unidentified master carpenter.","narrative":"Versailles is a plantation-era house near Burgess in Northumberland County, Virginia, built between 1853 and 1857 for Samuel Benedict Burgess, a local landowner, planter, grist mill operator and later public official. The five-bay, central-passage house rises two and a half stories over a raised brick basement and is covered in weatherboard. Its most striking feature is a two-story pedimented entrance porch with a classical entablature and a diamond-pattern sawnwork balustrade. Inside, Greek Revival woodwork includes Greek key door surrounds, reeded moldings with bull's eye corner blocks and an open-string walnut staircase. Bricks inscribed with the initials S.B.B. and the date 1853 mark the start of construction. The property was once 208 acres and is now about three acres. It was listed for its architecture, as a well-preserved example of a group of late antebellum county houses that appear to share the same unidentified master carpenter. Rock Hall and Wheatlands are named as two others.","period_of_significance":"1853-1857","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling; the main block is largely unaltered, with late nineteenth-century and 1970s-1980s additions at the rear.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:01.155769-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/6822/41682282/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/97000204.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000204/be5028d1fd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000204/be5028d1fd-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Versailles_at_Burgess.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Versailles_at_Burgess.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682282","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_(Burgess,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16902630"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/northumberland-county/versailles-97000204/"}