The core of the evolved Locust Grove dwelling is a rare example for its locale of a middling farmer’s residence of the colonial period. It began as a 16′ x 20′ structure of dressed pine planks with full-dovetail notching and may have been built as early as 1735 for William Willis. Except for beaded ceiling joists, the original interior was extremely plain. A single-room frame addition was constructed a decade or so later, and the whole was covered in weatherboarding. Mantels were added during the Federal period along with the present boxed stair, replacing the original ladder stair. This Culpeper County house was further expanded by four lean-to units, the last attached ca. 1840. The resulting structure illustrates the improvements in housing that accompanied the rising prosperity of area farmers. Isaac Willis, who lived at Locust Grove from 1774 to 1867, owned 150 head of livestock and a “pleasure carriage.”
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