Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/01/2004
NRHP Listing Date 01/20/2005
NRHP Reference Number 04001537
The main house of the Mount Bernard Complex, built circa 1850, is a fine example of antebellum domestic architecture and progressive Classical Revival updates. The entire complex is significant as a continuing agricultural and equestrian operation; it also encapsulates the 20th-century tradition of rural plantations becoming the grand estates of the nation’s wealthy. Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff purchased Mount Bernard in the 1920s and then enlarged the main house, added substantial barns, and developed the complex as a model farm and country house. In addition to the residence, the 58-acre Goochland County site consists of two secondary dwellings, a former slave quarters/ kitchen, an icehouse and cool chamber, a large barn/stable, two smaller stables, a corncrib, an equipment shelter, and a well house. The residence is a stucco, two-story brick building with a three-bay Greek Ionic portico. T. Brady Saunders, known in Virginia for his work with the Boy Scouts, purchased Mt. Bernard from Woodruff in the 1940s.
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: July 1, 2021
