Nomination Form
The Holland-Duncan House has served as a focal point for the Hales Ford community in Franklin County since its construction in the 1830s by plantation owner Asa Holland. The two-story, Flemish-bond brick Holland-Duncan House features molded brick cornices, gauged jack arches over the first-story windows, and Federal-style interior detailing. Asa Holland served as Hales Ford’s federal postmaster before the Civil War, and during the war he served the Confederacy in the same capacity. A small frame dependency on the grounds may represent the Hales Ford Post Office. After the Civil War, William Duncan married Holland’s daughter, Sallie, and the couple operated private academies at this property from 1874 to 1895. William Duncan became a prominent two-term superintendent of Franklin County schools in the late 1800s. Modern commercial development associated with Smith Mountain Lake has transformed the Hales Ford community, but the Holland-Duncan House survives much as it was historically.
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
