Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 06/20/1989
NRHP Listing Date 11/13/1989
NRHP Reference Number 89001904
This Blacksburg landmark was built ca. 1852 for John R. Phillips, a merchant and physician who also was a director of the Olin and Preston Institute, a forerunner of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Phillips experienced financial difficulties and sold the house, which he apparently never occupied, in 1853 to Nicholas M. Ronald, a merchant and banker. In 1986 the property was purchased by the town of Blacksburg which today uses the house for offices and meeting rooms. The house is one of the few antebellum dwellings in the region to employ a one-story, double-pile format. For many years it has been known popularly as Five Chimneys for the conspicuous quintet of chimneys that project from its side walls. The late Victorian porch was added shortly after 1891 when the place was sold by the Ronald family to O. C. Peters.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: September 8, 2021
