Birdwood is a unique dwelling originally built between 1819 and 1830 as the plantation home of William Garth, one of the leading planters of antebellum Albemarle County. The house exhibits many of the characteristics common to buildings at the University of Virginia and other structures known to have been built by Thomas Jefferson’s builders. The immediate grounds surrounding the Birdwood mansion contain four dependencies including a brick smokehouse and office with a basement icehouse. The main house is also significant for its Colonial Revival additions undertaken by Charles Edgar and Hollis Rinehart, both prominent Charlottesville citizens. Their work included an extension of the house, a distinctive water tower designed in the form of a light house, and gardens. The Birdwood property is now owned by the University and has been converted to a golf course.