Guerrant House
Also known as: 014-5001
Why it's listed
Set on a broad ridge along the south bank of the James River in Buckingham County, this farmhouse was built about 1835 by Peter Guerrant on land he inherited from his father in 1819. It is a one-and-a-half-story, two-room frame dwelling with beaded siding, a dentil cornice, shouldered brick chimneys and a slate roof, with a kitchen set at the rear and joined by a later hyphen. A smokehouse and a small family cemetery also survive from a farm that once had many barns, a mill and other buildings. The Guerrant and Snoddy families lived here for more than 130 years, raising tobacco, corn, cattle and wheat. The property was recognized for its architecture. Farmhouses of this plan, a hall-parlor house with a connected kitchen, were once common across the Virginia Piedmont but have mostly been lost, altered or absorbed into larger houses. This example remains largely unaltered, though empty for decades.
Significance in brief: The house is locally significant under Criterion C in architecture as a rare survivor of a once-common Piedmont Virginia house type: a hall-parlor frame farmhouse joined by a hyphen to a separate kitchen. Few such farmhouses survive intact, especially in Buckingham County. The house retains a high degree of integrity and its simple original features.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 00001497, listed December 7, 2000. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Rte. 1, Arvonia |
|---|---|
| County | Buckingham County |
| Listed | December 7, 2000 |
| Reference number | 00001497 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1835-ca.1950 |
| Architect / builder | Peter Guerrant |
| Architectural style | Federal |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as vacant/not in use; described as weather-beaten and left empty for almost half a century, though retaining a high degree of integrity. |
| Acreage | 9 |
| Coordinates | 37.72872, -78.39108 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 00001497.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5614966
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.