Pleasant Hall is among the last of the old houses in the all-but-totally-redeveloped village of Kempsville, in the former Princess Anne County (now the city of Virginia Beach). Pleasant Hall was built ca. 1765 for George Logan, a Scottish merchant. An outstanding example of Virginia’s Georgian architecture, the house was used in 1775 as a headquarters for Lord Dunmore, who later wrote: “I saw Mr. Logan’s house and have never seen better in Virginia.” Logan, a loyalist, returned to Britain, whereupon Pleasant Hall escheated to the Commonwealth and eventually was sold to Peter Singleton. The formality of the exterior is carried to the interior with its exceptionally fine woodwork, including a fully paneled parlor with a chimneypiece framed by pilasters in the rarely used Corinthian order. The massive king-post trusses supporting the roof are an important example of colonial carpentry. Pleasant Hall was carefully restored late in the 20th century for use as a funeral home, and was later repurposed as a reception center for the neighboring Kempsville Baptist Church.

Additional documentation updating the 1973 nomination for Pleasant Hall was drafted in 2025 and approved by the National Register of Historic Places in 2026. Dendrochronological analysis and additional research has established that the Georgian style dwelling was constructed ca. 1765. Pleasant Hall retains a high degree of integrity, reflecting the quality of its original construction, while a 1990s addition was designed in a manner that limits its impact on the building’s overall integrity. The rarity of town house dwellings in the former Princess Anne County adds to the property’s study value. Pleasant Hall is one of only two surviving buildings (the other being the Carraway House) associated with the colonial-era village of Kemps Landing in the present-day city of Virginia Beach.
[NRHP Approved: 3/10/2026]