081-0521

Chapel Hill

Rockbridge (County)

VLR Listing Date

2011-03-17

NRHP Listing Date

2011-06-08

NHL Listing Date

NA

NRHP Reference Number

11000350

Farmer and wheat fan manufacturer Henry Amole built Chapel Hill, a Federal and Greek Revival brick house located in Rockbridge County, around 1842. Amole manufactured wheat fans (also known as fanning mills or winnowing machines), hand-cranked devices used to separate wheat from chaff. The machines were marketed to farmers in Rockbridge and adjacent areas in the upper Shenandoah Valley, a developing grain growing region prior to the Civil War. Amole appears to have stopped manufacturing the fans by the third quarter of the 19th century. The house Amole built features unusual vernacular mantels, a finely crafted front entry surround, molded brick cornices, and a stone chimney constructed from a former outbuilding. In 1898 the property was acquired by the Rees family, who added a rear wing to the house circa 1910. At the time of its listing, Chapel Hill remained in the ownership of a Rees family descendant.

Last Updated: June 2, 2023

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

Photo credit: Dan Pezzoni, 2010

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