Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 10/16/1979
NRHP Listing Date 12/28/1979
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 79003093
Built in 1848 for David Funsten, farmer, lawyer, and politician, Erin is the work of a talented but unidentified master housewright. The design is a sophisticated illustration of the influence of American architectural pattern books on an antebellum rural house. Such books instructed the builder on how to translate classical forms into wooden construction. Although the three-part format had been used in Virginia since the 18th century, the scheme here likely was inspired by a design for a three-part house published in Minard Lafever’s Modern Builder’s Guide (1833). Moreover, Erin’s elegant Greek Revival detailing, particularly its richly ornamented entrance, is derived from illustrations in Asher Benjamin’s The Practice of Architecture (1833). The house is set off by an interesting range of outbuildings, from a limestone kitchen to Funsten’s law office, a one-room wood-frame structure fronted by a simple portico. The Erin property contributes to the Rockland Rural Historic District in Warren County.
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: September 6, 2022
