Oak Hill, an ambitious Federal plantation house, was erected in 1823-1825 by Samuel Hairston. It was one of the largest and finest of the residences constructed along the Dan River in Pittsylvania County. It was noted for its fine woodwork. The house stood as the most thoroughly documented work of James DeJarnett, a master builder of Southside Virginia. After the house was completed, Agnes Hairston, the wife of Samuel Hairston, laid out the formal gardens, and traces of that 19th-century multi-terraced landscaping remained at the time of listing in the 20th century. Oak Hill was gutted by fire in 1988, and was subsequently delisted from the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
[VLR Listed: 9/18/1979; NRHP Listed: 12/28/1979 — VLR Delisted: 3/19/1997; NRHP Delisted: 3/19/2001]

The Oak Hill property, located west of the city of Danville in southern Pittsylvania County, is representative of the history of plantation agriculture in Southside Virginia, starting from the antebellum period through the Civil War. In 1979, the mansion and 20 acres of the property were listed in the registers for the architectural significance of the ca 1823 Federal style mansion. In 1988 the property was delisted after arsonists burned the Oak Hill dwelling, leaving it in ruins that remain to this day. Archaeological investigations starting in 2015 have resulted in the relisting of the property. As one of many plantations owned by the wealthy Hairston family, Oak Hill provides a rare opportunity to study the lives of enslaved and free individuals who lived and worked on the property, as well as the rise and decline of the planter class from the 18th and 19th centuries.