Bowyer-Trollinger Farm
Also known as: DHR File No. 60-84
Why it's listed
Set in rolling farmland near Childress, this Montgomery County farm centers on a large two-story log-and-frame house that grew in four stages between about 1825 and about 1910. It began as a three-bay log pen of roughly sixteen by twenty-two feet, later gained a second log pen to form a double-pen house, and around 1888 received a balloon-framed north wing with a center passage. Early twentieth-century frame rooms completed the plan. Nearby stand a mid-nineteenth-century farm office and washhouse, a springhouse, a late nineteenth-century barn and corncrib, and an apple house that also held a carbide gas lighting plant. A picket fence marks the domestic yard. The land passed from Thomas Bowyer, who kept horses, to Jordan Trollinger, who bought it in 1883. The property was listed because its buildings together show how regional farmhouses and outbuildings evolved, with several common vernacular plans preserved in one place.
Significance in brief: The farm is argued to be significant under criterion C as a group of buildings showing how regional farmhouses and outbuildings changed over time. The house embodies several vernacular floor plans: single-pen, double-pen and center-passage. The original log single-pen form is described as a type of which few houses survive from 1801-1830. The outbuildings show the layout of domestic space and the use of a medium-sized farm.
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 90002167, listed February 1, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | VA 600 N of jct. with VA 693, Childress |
|---|---|
| County | Montgomery County |
| Listed | February 1, 1991 |
| Reference number | 90002167 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | ca.1825-ca.1910 |
| Architectural style | Vernacular; single-pen, double-pen and center-passage plans |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The house is described as largely unchanged since the turn of the century, with its kitchen modernized with care. Current functions are listed as domestic and agricultural. |
| Acreage | 4 |
| Coordinates | 37.06735, -80.50641 (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.
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 90002167.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14712059
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.