Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/19/1973
NRHP Listing Date 07/24/1973
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 73001998
Preserving a commanding presence in the rolling farmland of western Bedford County, the country house known as the Old Rectory was built ca. 1787 for Waddy Cobbs, who later built the house at nearby Elk Hill. The T-shaped dwelling originally had a Palladian tripartite scheme with a two-story, temple-form center section and one-story wings. The wings were raised to two stories in the antebellum period. As with a number of Federal houses in the area, the woodwork has details based on illustrations in architectural pattern books by William Pain. From 1828 to 1904 the house was a center of local social life as the rectory of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, which was founded by Nicholas Hamner Cobbs, nephew of Waddy Cobbs, the original owner. The Doric portico was added to the Old Rectory soon after the house was returned to use as a private residence.
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
