Thomas Jefferson designed the elongated octagonal wing of the Albemarle County home of Farmington for his friend George Divers. Dominated by a Tuscan portico and bull’s-eye windows, the wing was completed in 1802 following Jefferson’s drawings, preserved in the Massachusetts Historical Society. The original section, a typical late Georgian, side-passage dwelling, was probably erected ca. 1785 following Divers’s purchase of the property. In 1927 the house, along with its extensive service buildings and some 350 acres of farmland just west of Charlottesville, was sold to Farmington, Inc., a development company that converted the property into a country club. The club remodeled the interior of the Jefferson section by removing partitions and floor levels installed in 1852-54 by Gen. Bernard Peyton, making the wing into a single grand reception room. Although Farmington has received extensive additions, the original portion preserves much of its historic flavor.
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