Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/09/1986
NRHP Listing Date 04/24/1987
NRHP Reference Number 87000609
This visually engaging brick plantation house of Verville is one of a handful of colonial buildings remaining in Lancaster County. While its form is typical of the 18th-century Chesapeake area, Verville, as early records indicate, was always considered a superlative example of local domestic architecture. The house is the only standing structure on a plantation that once had many outbuildings and agricultural buildings. It was built in the 1740s by James Gordon, a Scots-Irish immigrant. Both he and his son, James Gordon, Jr., were influential merchants, planters, and public officials. During the early 19th century Verville was the home of Ellyson Currie, a justice of the Virginia General Court, who added the wings and probably the finely detailed Federal interior woodwork. The mantels are derived from designs in Owen Biddle’s Young Carpenter’s Assistant (1805). The house has since been expanded with several architecturally compatible additions.
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: January 7, 2022
