Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 07/18/1978
NRHP Listing Date 11/16/1978
NRHP Reference Number 78003024
On a high bank above the Mattaponi River in King and Queen County, Bewdley, the 1760s L-shaped brick house, is a proficient work of Tidewater colonial architecture. It was probably built by William Tunstall, son of Richard Tunstall, clerk of the court, on the site of an earlier house owned by Obadiah and Elizabeth Marriott. The interior stood unfinished when the house was offered for sale in 1767. A Virginia Gazette advertisement of that year described it as “a new brick house . . . Which may be finished at small expense.” The walls and ceiling joists all date from the original construction. The relatively simple woodwork, including the stairs, mainly dates from the early 1800s when Bewdley was owned by the Roys. Subsequent interior modifications were made by the Latanes in the 1870s, the Fleets in the 1920s, and the Smiths in the 1950s.
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 26, 2022
