Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/05/2007
NRHP Listing Date 06/24/2010
NRHP Reference Number 08000073
The Presbyterian Orphans Home, established in 1903 by a charter from the General Assembly, relocated to its present site in Lynchburg’s Peakland neighborhood in 1911. It was designed and built in a “cottage style” that organized children into small family-sized units within buildings, each with a cottage mother, in order to foster a family atmosphere. This arrangement was in stark contrast to the era’s prevalent institutional orphanages, which housed children in often overcrowded dormitories. The cottage style, intended to help children socialize and develop individual identities, helped change society’s view of orphanages by representing them as places that could shape productive future citizens. The six residential cottages, all designed in the Georgian Revival style, are arranged in a horseshoe pattern to emphasize a communal environment, and the campus includes ponds, pastures, and other buildings for recreation and administration. Notable architects Warren H. Manning and Charles Gillette designed the campus.
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 11, 2021
