{"nrhp_refnum":"98000049","name":"Grelen","other_names":["DHR file no. 68-341"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15149 Grelen Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Orange","county":"Orange County","state":"VA","lat":38.28080804150005,"lon":-78.11395427053475,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-02-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Grelen is a roughly 418-acre farm estate about three miles north of Orange, Orange County, Virginia. It has a Georgian Revival brick main house built in 1935-1936, designed gardens, and a working farm yard with outbuildings.","why_significant":"The nomination argues Grelen is a notable example of 1930s Georgian Revival residential architecture, designed by Walter Dabney Blair and linked to the colonial revival seen at Colonial Williamsburg. It is also an intact residential landscape by Arthur A. Shurcliff, Chief Landscape Architect of Colonial Williamsburg. Together the house, gardens and site plan create the character of a Georgian country estate.","narrative":"Grelen is a farm estate of about 418 acres on a ridge three miles north of Orange, Virginia. Its centerpiece is a two-and-one-half-story Georgian Revival house of red brick laid in Flemish bond, with a slate hipped roof, built in 1935-1936 for New York tax lawyer Will R. Gregg. Architect Walter Dabney Blair designed the house around hand-carved living room paneling that came from a New York hotel apartment. Landscape architect Arthur A. Shurcliff, who worked at Colonial Williamsburg, laid out the entrance drive, a tree-lined mall, a kitchen garden and a four-level walled sunken garden. Gregg intended the estate to be largely self-sufficient, and a farm yard of wood-frame barns and sheds was built in 1936-1937 below the ridge. Holladay Brothers of Gordonsville carried out the construction. The property was listed for its architecture and landscape architecture, as a well-preserved 1930s country estate shaped by the colonial revival movement. Beef cattle are still raised on the land today.","period_of_significance":"1935 - 1940","architect_builder":"Blair, Walter Dabney - Architect; Shurcliff, Arthur Asahel - Landscape Architect; Holladay Brothers - Builder","architectural_style":"Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals/Georgian Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The property is a working farm with a commercial beef cattle operation, and the main house and gardens remain in residential use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.522352-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/6823/41682370/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/98000049.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000049/023b3a66e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000049/023b3a66e5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grelen_from_south.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grelen_from_south.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682370","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grelen","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15222140"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/orange-county/grelen-98000049/"}