Erected ca. 1753 on Armstrong Point facing Hampton Creek and the harbor, the Herbert House is the oldest dwelling in the city of Hampton. It remained in the Herbert family, for whom it was built, until 1808. One of its owners, Capt. Thomas Herbert, served in the Virginia navy during the American Revolution. Because it was a plantation house and outside the town proper, the Herbert House was spared the burning that destroyed most of Hampton during the Civil War. The house remains a sophisticated example of colonial Georgian style, exhibiting the careful proportions and fine brickwork typical of Virginia’s more substantial mid-18th-century houses. Unoccupied for several decades at the time of its listing in the early 1970s, the Herbert House suffered from alterations made during the 19th century. Surrounding modern housing has almost completely hidden this rare landmark.
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
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