Charlottesville’s Oakhurst-Gildersleeve Neighborhood Historic District, adjacent to the grounds of the University of Virginia, has retained its open space and architectural character since the early 20th century. The neighborhood features two distinct circles—Oakhurst Circle (where the Oakhurst House once stood before it burned in 1915) and a smaller Gildersleeve Wood—that are early expressions of design ideas associated with the City Beautiful movement, which took root in Charlottesville during the 1920s and 1930s. While the district’s residential architecture reflects popular styles of the early 20th century such as Craftsman and Tudor Revival, the most prevalent style is Colonial Revival. The neighborhood developed circa 1912, although it is likely that the “Gildersleeve Wood” section derived its name from a UVA professor who built the Oakhurst House and resided there as early as the 1870s. The district continues to fulfill its original purpose of offering convenient and relatively upscale housing for university faculty and medical school personnel along with some boarding facilities and larger residential structures for students. Beyond its proximity to the university and the university hospital and medical facilities, the Oakhurst-Gildersleeve Neighborhood Historic District is bordered by one of Charlottesville’s best known thoroughfares, Jefferson Park Avenue, along which a trolley line once connected the outer reaches of the city and Fry’s Spring with the downtown area.
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
Nomination Form
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia