The refined proportions and correct classical detailing of the Greek Revival Belle Aire farmhouse illustrate the strong influence of architectural pattern books in the mid-19th-century and the uses to which imaginative local craftsmen could put them. Most of the detailing was adapted from illustrations in the works of Boston architect Asher Benjamin and applied to the regional I-house form. The house was completed in 1849 for Madison Pitzer, a large landowner in the Roanoke area. Local builder Gustavus Sedon, who erected similar area houses, is recorded to have installed Belle Aire’s windows and may have played a role in the design. A stately air is achieved with the use of a two-level Doric portico, a device reserved for more important antebellum dwellings of the Roanoke Valley. The wide corner pilasters are features common to brick Greek Revival houses in the area.