Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/12/2013
NRHP Listing Date 04/14/2014
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
NRHP Reference Number 14000147
Paradise, in the Warrenton Historic District in Fauquier County, is believed to have been built about 1758. It is a two-story, evolved Federal-style timber-frame house, retaining much of its original interior woodwork, doors, windows, and mantels. The full-width one-story front porch, added ca. 1870, features elaborate Italianate and Folk Victorian elements including bracketed eaves, modillion cornices, and scrollwork. The house is important for its association with Martin Pickett, a county leader and representative to the State Convention of 1776 and the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and Judge William Gaines, a wealthy businessman who purchased Paradise after the Civil War and lived there until his death in 1888. Gaines distinguished himself in the legal field, eventually serving as a judge on the Fauquier County Circuit Court. The property contains two historic secondary buildings–a circa 1830 frame smokehouse and an 1870 summer kitchen resting on a brick foundation.
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: January 25, 2022
