Taylor Farm
Why it's listed
This farmstead on Walmsley Boulevard in south Richmond preserves a group of buildings and garden features dating from about 1870 to the 1930s. The main house is a small two-story frame dwelling with a gable-fronted, two-room-deep plan, built in stages for the family of blacksmith Joseph T. Williams. Gable-fronted farmhouses were uncommon in the Richmond area, and few houses this small survive with their original detailing. Nearby are a Craftsman-style garage, a storage shed, a barn, a corncrib, a lumber shed and a poultry house. The Taylor family bought the property in 1917. In the 1930s Olin Taylor, an amateur landscape designer, built a rubblestone walled garden, a fish pool, retaining walls and concrete planters. Suburban housing from the 1950s and 1960s now surrounds the parcel. The farm was listed for its architecture and landscape architecture, as a rare surviving small farm of the postbellum and early twentieth-century period.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the farm is an unusually well-preserved postbellum farmstead, surrounded by later suburban development. Its gable-fronted, double-pile house is rare in the Richmond area, and its farm buildings show conservative early twentieth-century building practice. The 1930s gardens and stonework, designed and built by amateur landscape designer Olin Taylor, add to its significance.
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 90002158, listed January 24, 1991. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 4012 Walmsley Blvd., Richmond (Independent City) |
|---|---|
| County | Richmond (city and county) |
| Listed | January 24, 1991 |
| Reference number | 90002158 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | c1870-1940 |
| Architect / builder | Taylor, Olin (designed and built landscape elements) |
| Architectural style | Bungalow/Craftsman (garage); main house a vernacular postbellum gable-fronted farmhouse |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Still used as a single dwelling with agricultural outbuildings; the house retains most original detailing. The poultry house is dilapidated. |
| Acreage | 3.5 |
| Coordinates | 37.47227, -77.46985 (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 90002158.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15637936
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.