{"nrhp_refnum":"99000073","name":"Oakley","other_names":["VDHR File #66-101-66"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"28 Back St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Heathsville","county":"Northumberland County","state":"VA","lat":37.91870106700006,"lon":-76.47401889882472,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-01-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A frame Federal-style house with Greek Revival details at 28 Back Street in Heathsville, Northumberland County, Virginia, on 28 acres within the Heathsville Historic District. It was probably built in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, with a two-story ell added in 1898.","why_significant":"The nomination argues Oakley is a well-preserved example of a house that evolved from about 1820 to 1898, under Criterion C at the local level. It is the oldest of four large plantation houses in the district and the only early-nineteenth-century frame dwelling of its size there. It also has ties to the original Hughlett land and to long-term residents including physicians and Senator C. Harding Walker.","narrative":"Oakley is a two-and-a-half-story, five-bay frame house in Heathsville, Virginia, set on about 28 acres near the Northumberland County courthouse. Built probably in the early nineteenth century on an earlier foundation, it has a central-passage plan, a raised brick basement, weatherboard siding and a tetrastyle front porch with paired Doric columns. Tax records show a jump in property value between 1819 and 1820, suggesting the main block dates from then. William Harding likely added the Greek Revival porch details and Federal-style interior trim in the late 1830s. In 1898 Senator C. Harding Walker built a two-story ell that more than doubled the house. Walker also planted one of the 1902 Constitution Oaks on the lawn. Three physicians lived here, and the land once belonged to John Hughlett, who built the county's first courthouse in 1681. A turn-of-the-century barn and a small outbuilding also contribute to the property's character.","period_of_significance":"1820 - 1898","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Currently in use as a single dwelling, with a 1978 glass-enclosed porch added at the rear and a restoration by owners beginning in 1966.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.163222-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/6822/41682274/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/99000073.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000073/6eb796e577-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000073/6eb796e577-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oakley_at_Heathsville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oakley_at_Heathsville.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"92000053","name":"Heathsville Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/heathsville-historic-district-92000053/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682274","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakley_(Heathsville,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712997"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/northumberland-county/oakley-99000073/"}