{"nrhp_refnum":"99001503","name":"Bowman, A. Smith, Distillery","other_names":["Wiehle Town Hall","Sunset Hills"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1875 Old Reston Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reston","county":"Fairfax (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":38.957737645000066,"lon":-77.35283189199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-12-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Industry"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick building with a stone foundation at Old Reston Avenue and Sunset Hills Road in Reston, Fairfax County, Virginia, built about 1892 as the Wiehle Town Hall and church and later converted into a whiskey distillery warehouse.","why_significant":"The building documents the founding of the planned town of Wiehle by Dr. C.A. Max Wiehle, when it served as town hall and Methodist church. In 1934 it became part of the A. Smith Bowman Distillery, described as the only legal whiskey distillery in Virginia. It is also a high-style example of Classical Revival architecture with Greek Revival influence.","narrative":"Built around 1892 in what was then the town of Wiehle, this two-story brick building with a stone foundation first served as the town hall on its ground floor and a Methodist Episcopal church upstairs. It was part of Dr. C.A. Max Wiehle's plan for a self-sufficient community west of Washington, D.C. After the town faltered, the building became a dwelling and store, then was absorbed into Sunset Hills Farm. In 1934, after Prohibition ended, A. Smith Bowman converted it into distillery storage for his Virginia Gentleman and Fairfax County whiskeys, and the church steeple and bell were removed. Its Classical Revival design includes a Greek Revival-influenced front gable and segmental arched openings. Inside, exposed beams and wooden runways for rolling barrels survive. The property is significant for its architecture, its role in Wiehle's early history, and its link to Wiehle and Bowman. It now stands vacant and weathered, and the interior layout remains intact.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1892-1949","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Described as vacant for a number of years, overgrown with vegetation, with peeling paint and deteriorating window sashes, though the interior remains in moderate condition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.813291-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/6805/41680512/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/99001503.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001503/94f001cf1e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001503/94f001cf1e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.5","author":"Joshua Davis","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oldbowmanwinedistill.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Joshua Davis</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oldbowmanwinedistill.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680512","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A._Smith_Bowman_Distillery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4648402"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/fairfax/bowman-a-smith-distillery-99001503/"}