A compact colonial manor house, the Mason House in Accomack County is an important and rare example of the transition from the Jacobean style to the Georgian as revealed in Virginia vernacular architecture. The treatment of the front and rear walls as paneled bays is a unique survival. Although later painted over, those panels without openings are set off by a diaper pattern of glazed-header bricks. These are among the state’s few remaining examples of colonial-period diaper work. The history of the Mason House has not been precisely documented, but it was built after the property was acquired by William Andrews in 1722. A dendrochronological investigation has established a likely construction date of 1729. The most striking interior feature is the Jacobean-style, closed-string stair with symmetrical turned balusters and pulvinated stringer frieze. The Mason House long stood abandoned and deteriorating, but was repaired and stabilized in the early 1990s. A full rehabilitation of the Mason House began in 2007 with meticulous attention to the restoration of several earlier features revealed by extensive research and analysis.
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
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia