Longwood House
Why it's listed
Longwood House is a large wood-frame residence on a private road off Johnson Drive, just outside Farmville in Prince Edward County. Nathaniel E. Venable built it about 1815 after a fire destroyed an earlier house on the site. Around 1839, as his family grew, it was enlarged with a gable roof, a Doric-columned front porch, a two-story west wing and stylish Greek Revival interior woodwork drawn from Asher Benjamin's Practical House Carpenter. Venable served in the Virginia House of Delegates and the State Senate, and his son Charles Scott Venable became a noted mathematician and staff officer to Robert E. Lee. The Venable family sold the property in 1873. In 1928 it was acquired by the State Teachers College at Farmville as a student retreat, and an east wing was added then. The college took the house's name in 1949, and the president's residence moved there in 1968. Some box shrubs and the broad lawn survive from the 19th-century garden.
Significance in brief: The nomination presents it as a farmhouse that evolved into one of the county's most stylish Greek Revival mansions, with interior woodwork derived from Asher Benjamin's Practical House Carpenter. It is also tied to the Venable family and to Longwood College, which took its name from the house in 1949.
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 84003564, listed March 8, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Johnson Dr., Farmville |
|---|---|
| County | Prince Edward County |
| Listed | March 8, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84003564 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1800-1899 |
| Architect / builder | unknown (built by Nathaniel E. Venable) |
| Architectural style | Late Federal and Greek Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned by Longwood College and used as the president's residence; condition listed as excellent. A restoration of furnishings and gardens to the Venable period has been authorized. |
| Acreage | 4 |
| Coordinates | 37.29188, -78.37962 (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 84003564.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15242824
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.