An architectural anomaly for the Roanoke region, Monterey is a low dwelling with a verandah is more akin to the spacious mid-19th-century cottages of the Gulf Coast than the standard two-story houses of Virginia. Like many Greek Revival works throughout the state, the house has details derived from Asher Benjamin’s widely popular pattern book The Practical House Carpenter (1830). Monterey was built in 1846 for Yelverton Oliver, a landowner. Family tradition holds that Oliver got the idea for the form while on a trip to New Orleans to race horses. Monterey is an exceptionally well-crafted building, employing precise Flemish-bond brickwork and boldly molded woodwork. Distinctive features are the triple-hung sashes in the front rooms and the exterior Doric cornice. A rear wing was added around 1870. Although within the city limits, Monterey retains a rural setting.
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