Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 02/18/1975
NRHP Listing Date 06/05/1975
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 75002042
Blenheim is the plantation next to Pope’s Creek Plantation, birthplace of George Washington. The simple late Georgian dwelling here was built in 1781 for William Augustine Washington, son of George Washington’s half-brother, as a successor to the Pope’s Creek house, which burned on Christmas day, 1779. Washington vacated Blenheim sometime between 1787 and 1795, possibly when he married Sarah Tayloe, a younger daughter of John Tayloe of Mount Airy. The property eventually passed to Washington’s daughter, Sarah Tayloe Washington, who was married to her cousin Lawrence Washington. Except for one break, Blenheim has remained in the ownership of Washington family descendants. The house was restored from near-ruinous condition in the 1970s by Lawrence Washington Latane, Jr. The wood-frame south wing is an earlier structure, said to have been an overseer’s house.
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: November 11, 2021
