Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/16/1975
NRHP Listing Date 05/17/1976
NRHP Reference Number 76002089
Blenheim’s low, stretched-out Gothic Revival dwelling house, built ca. 1846, was the seat of Andrew Stevenson, who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives, ambassador to Great Britain, and rector of the University of Virginia. With its numerous outbuildings, including a colonnaded “book house” or library, and what was perhaps a chapel, Blenheim is a striking if somewhat naive expression of Romantic Revivalism in central Virginia. The book house is one of the state’s few detached plantation libraries. The southern Albemarle County property was originally part of a 9,350-acre land grant of 1730 to John Carter, Secretary of the Colony and son of Robert (“King”) Carter. John Carter’s son, Edward Carter, built a large, H-shaped house here before 1799. Carter’s home has disappeared, but its site, just to the north of the present house, is potentially of archaeological significance.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: October 20, 2020
