Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/18/2003
NRHP Listing Date 10/23/2003
NRHP Reference Number 03001086
Sunnyside is set on a large wooded lot at the edge of the city of Charlottesville. It began as a two-room log structure built by John Alphin about 1800. It was enlarged and embellished in the Gothic Revival style in the 1850s first by Ira Garrett and later by William Carroll. It is said that Washington Irving’s house, Sunnyside, in Tarrytown, New York, was its inspiration. Sunnyside exhibits scroll-sawn verge boards and pointed-arch windows fitted with arched shutters. Lattice panels framed by simple posts topped with cornice caps support the veranda. The fieldstone chimney on the north end has stepped weatherings and is capped with a pair of octagonal chimney pots. Col. Richard Thomas Walker Duke acquired the house in 1863; the Dukes lived in it for 100 years. Sunnyside is owned by the University of Virginia and is used for housing.
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: April 14, 2022
