Ionia’s dwelling house, with its symmetrical façade, hall-parlor plan, shed-roofed porch, weatherboarded walls, and narrow dormers, illustrates the rational simplicity of the colonial Virginia farmhouse, a simplicity not based on economic necessity. Despite its small size and ordinary materials, the house has the architectural dignity inherent in many vernacular buildings of the period. Built in the early 1770s for Maj. James Watson, Ionia is one of the oldest residences in Louisa County’s Green Springs Rural Historic District. Expanded at least four times by different generations of the family, the house retains its self-effacing aspect. Several early domestic outbuildings, including a large early barn, add interest to this venerable homestead.