Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/17/1987
NRHP Listing Date 09/25/1987
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 87001733
On a carefully chosen site with the Blue Ridge Mountains as backdrop, Locust Grove was built ca. 1798 for Isaac Davis, Jr. (1754-1835), a successful planter, land speculator, and a slave owner, who served in the Virginia House of Delegates and held various appointive county offices. Although this Greene County house lacks academic architectural character, its two stories and four-room plan made it a vivid contrast to the humble abodes common to the rustic dwellers of the Blue Ridge foothills. The exterior preserves early beaded weatherboarding and porches, and the interior, with its original paneled wainscoting and paneled mantels, retains its original, well-appointed character. Davis, being a public figure, used the exterior to signal his rank, with the principal rooms serving as social spaces for entertaining the public as well as friends and family. The house was restored in the mid-1980s, prior to listing in the registers.
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 22, 2021
