Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/06/2000
NRHP Listing Date 02/16/2001
NRHP Reference Number 01000146
Otterburn was once the seemingly modest seat of a 2,800-acre antebellum plantation situated along Little Otter Creek in Bedford County. The house was built in 1828 for Benjamin A. Donald, who served Bedford County in numerous appointed and elected leadership positions, and his wife Sally Camm Donald. Following a fire in 1841, the Donalds rebuilt the house within the shell of the original structure, making it one of the region’s most distinctive Greek Revival dwellings. The house at Otterburn has a sophisticated combination of unusual features such as a rare transverse hall plan and projecting central pavilion, set beneath a cross-gable roof with integral front and rear porches and pedimented gable ends; paired columns; triple-hung sash windows; a piano nobile main floor over a raised basement; and detailing from published pattern book sources.
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: April 25, 2022
