Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 05/16/2006
NRHP Listing Date 06/21/2006
NRHP Reference Number 98001318
Located near Chuckatuck in the former Nansemond County (now part of the City of Suffolk), the house at Phillips Farm was built ca. 1820. The superbly detailed farmhouse features a rare architectural detail from this period; clerestory dormers. Referred to by architectural historians as a clerestory house, there are only 12 remaining of the 14 documented examples of this type of construction found in a four-county region between the James and Blackwater rivers in southeastern Virginia. Built for John T. and Elizabeth Phillips, the original house was a one-story, single-pile vernacular dwelling common to the Tidewater region. The 1848 remodeling resulted in a story increase with the unusual dormers. The clerestory brought light and more space to what was typically a dark and cramped area of most antebellum dwellings. The Phillips Farmhouse was carefully restored between 1982 and 1984.
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: August 20, 2021
