Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/19/1996
NRHP Listing Date 11/07/1996
NRHP Reference Number 96001329
The stateliness which the Greek Revival style could bestow on a wooden American farmhouse, even one lacking columns, is self-evident in the former Burwell-family homestead at Waverly. The bold, formally proportioned structure is visually dominated by the full entablature surrounding the mass. The house was built in the late 1850s for tobacco planter Armistead L. Burwell and his family. The design and construction are attributed to Seth Richardson, a local builder. Specific details, however, are adapted from designs found in the pattern books of Asher Benjamin whose works were widely used by Virginia housewrights. The interior woodwork, though plain, shows the hand of an accomplished finish carpenter. Like many of the area’s principal planters, the Burwells operated a factory for the manufacture of plug tobacco. From the 1940s to the 1970s the Burwells maintained a large dairy farm at Waverly.
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: August 7, 2018
