Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 11/08/1980
NRHP Listing Date 09/16/1982
NRHP Reference Number 82004554
Surrounded by spacious, park-like grounds, Village View is the city of Emporia’s outstanding example of Federal architecture. The imposing house features a refined main stair, richly ornamented mantels, and unusual scrollwork decoration in the main entry fanlight and sidelights. Village View was built in the 1790s for James Wall, member of a prominent local family. It was purchased in the 1820s from Wall’s heirs by Nathaniel Land who made improvements to the house prior to his marriage to Maria Pendleton Woodlief in 1830. The house served as a Confederate headquarters during the Civil War; generals W. H. F. Lee, Wade Hampton, and Matthew Butler met in the parlor. After the war William Henry Briggs operated a boys’ academy on the property. In 1986 Village View was donated by the Briggs family to the Village View Foundation, which has since restored the house for public exhibition and use.
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 20, 2021
