Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 03/19/2015
NRHP Listing Date 05/18/2015
DHR Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 15000254
Originally the residence of Dr. Robert and Elizabeth Munger, Boxerwood, in Rockbridge County, consists of a Modernist house completed in 1952 and is one of the earliest examples of such architecture in the county. The property also includes an extensive private garden and arboretum. Designed by Roanoke architects William Gordon Wells and Richard Leo Meagher, the house features intersecting shed-roofed wings, redwood and stone cladding, and a window wall with views of the garden and the Blue Ridge Mountains. A stone chimney core, under-floor radiant heating, hearth-centered spatial planning, built-in furnishings, and other elements suggest the influence of Wright’s Usonian residential architecture. Wells and Meagher also designed an addition with a Japanese-inspired multipurpose room and a butterfly-roofed guest house built in 1956. Dr. Munger, an avid gardener and specimen collector, in 1957 inaugurated the development of the garden and arboretum, which now boasts more than 2,500 specimen trees and shrubs. Today the nonprofit Boxerwood Education Association manages the property as Boxerwood Nature Center and Woodland Garden.
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: December 10, 2021
