Bowman-Zirkle Farm

Southwest of Edinburg in Shenandoah County, this 286-acre farm has been worked by the same family since the early nineteenth century. Its buildings stand in a line along Middle Road. At the center is a two-story, three-bay frame I house dated April 1879 on its limestone foundation. It has a rear wing, a wide front porch and sawn-wood decoration. Rear additions were made in 1934, 1958 and 2005, and all follow the historic design. The complex also includes an 1823 summer kitchen, a log-and-frame tenant house moved in the late nineteenth century, a meat house, two bank barns, a granary, a wood-stave silo and a 1920s chicken house. The farm was recognized for architecture. Most I houses built in the county after the Civil War have been altered or poorly maintained. This one remains in outstanding condition with its original footprint readable, making it a significant example of a late-nineteenth-century family farmhouse. Seven later structures are not counted as historic.