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018-0027

Westover

VLR Listing Date

09/09/1969

NRHP Listing Date

10/15/1966

NHL Listing Date

10/09/1960
1960-10-09

NRHP Reference Number

66000923
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement

Westover is perhaps the nation’s premier example of colonial Georgian architecture as well as one of Virginia’s earliest and grandest plantation mansions. It was built ca. 1730 by William Byrd II, who helped survey the Virginia-North Carolina border and founded the city of Richmond. Westover’s stately air, graceful proportions, pedimented entrances, and paneled interiors have come to symbolize the high level of architectural quality attained during the colonial era. Complementing the house are original gardens and outbuildings as well as English wrought-iron gates. The Charles City County plantation remained in the Byrd family until 1817. In 1899 it was purchased by Mrs. Clarise Sears Ramsey, who engaged the New York restoration architect William H. Mesereau to modernize the house and to add the hyphens. Mesereau also designed the library dependency, built on the site of Byrd’s library and destroyed during the 1862 Union occupation.

Last Updated: February 26, 2024

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

For additional information Read

Nomination Form

1975 National Historic Landmark Nomination

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