Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/18/1979
NRHP Listing Date 03/17/1980
NRHP Reference Number 80004184
The massive country residence of Greenville was constructed in 1854 for Philip Pendleton Nalle, a Culpeper County entrepreneur. The architecturally muscular dwelling is a freely interpreted Classical Revival design, having giant Doric columns, tall bracketed cornices, and heavy window entablatures. The cornice masks a rare W-shaped roof on all but the rear elevation. Stylistically, Greenville is more akin to the antebellum mansions of the Deep South than to the generally more genteel dwellings of Virginia. It was designed by the Culpeper County lawyer, politician, and architect Jeremiah Morton, who designed several other porticoed houses in the vicinity. Greenville was caught in the midst of considerable Civil War fighting in 1863-64. So heavy was the artillery firing that the adjacent pasture was later called “cannon ball field.” Nalle’s son, Philip Nalle, Jr., sold Greenville in 1918. The house has been occupied sporadically since then but was restored in the mid-1990s.
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: May 31, 2022
