Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/01/2004
NRHP Listing Date 01/20/2005
NRHP Reference Number 04001537
The main house of the Mount Bernard Complex, built circa 1850, is a fine example of antebellum domestic architecture and progressive Classical Revival updates. The entire complex is significant as a continuing agricultural and equestrian operation; it also encapsulates the 20th-century tradition of rural plantations becoming the grand estates of the nation’s wealthy. Coca-Cola magnate Robert W. Woodruff purchased Mount Bernard in the 1920s and then enlarged the main house, added substantial barns, and developed the complex as a model farm and country house. In addition to the residence, the 58-acre Goochland County site consists of two secondary dwellings, a former slave quarters/ kitchen, an icehouse and cool chamber, a large barn/stable, two smaller stables, a corncrib, an equipment shelter, and a well house. The residence is a stucco, two-story brick building with a three-bay Greek Ionic portico. T. Brady Saunders, known in Virginia for his work with the Boy Scouts, purchased Mt. Bernard from Woodruff in the 1940s.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: July 1, 2021
