Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 03/13/2002
NRHP Listing Date 05/30/2002
DHR Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 02000590
Locust Hill, situated amid the rolling farmland of eastern Madison County, is a well-preserved Federal- and Greek Revival–style residence associated with a school, a store, and domestic and commercial outbuildings that comprise the hamlet of Locust Dale. The original section of the two-story frame house was apparently built in 1834 by Travis J. Twyman, who enlarged the house to its present form about 1849. Notable architectural features include a two-level front porch, fine mantels, and well-preserved original grained woodwork. The house was later acquired by the scholarly Willis family. Larkin Willis II taught at the nearby Locust Dale Academy, and his daughter, Mary Lucy Willis, taught public school in a one-room schoolhouse built in 1897 that still survives on the property. The Willises added a greenhouse, a summer kitchen, and a curious two-story hip-roofed bathroom tower to the house. The property also contains the Locust Dale Store and Post Office, a well-preserved 1880s frame commercial structure located across the street.
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: March 2, 2022
