Burlington is a classic demonstration of the transmission of sophisticated architectural design to rural buildings through the medium of publication. This stately plantation house, located in Orange County’s Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District, is embellished with Greek-style decorations copied with precision from illustrations in Asher Benjamin’s pattern book The Practical House Carpenter (1830), a work that profoundly influenced American building. It was Benjamin’s handsome plates and straightforward instructions that made the grandeur of Attica accessible to the nation’s nethermost regions. Burlington was constructed in 1851 by master carpenter George H. Stockdon for James Barbour Newman, nephew of Governor James Barbour. Most of the labor was provided by blacks, both free and slave. The fluted Ionic columns, doorway, window frames, mantels, and moldings are all faithfully interpreted Benjamin designs. An exception is the Chinese lattice balcony railing, a detail popularized in the area by Thomas Jefferson. Essentially unchanged, Burlington retains its gentle rural setting.