Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 03/18/1975
NRHP Listing Date 06/05/1975
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 75002038
St. Julien was the Spotsylvania County home of Francis Taliaferro Brooke (1763-1851), who was appointed to the Virginia General Court in 1804 and later served as president of Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals. Brooke served in the General Assembly in 1794 and 1795. In 1796 he transferred his law practice to Fredericksburg and purchased a nearby farm, which he named St. Julien. He described the dwelling that he constructed here in 1804 as a “small brick house with a shed to it.” Although compact in scale, Brooke’s house stands as one of the area’s most refined examples of rural Federal architecture. Its two-level recessed entry capped by a pediment is an imaginative and effective façade treatment. The refinements of the building include its Flemish-bond brickwork, carved stone lintels and keystones, and finely detailed interior woodwork. Among St. Julien’s several historic outbuildings is an early board-and-batten office.
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: February 10, 2023
