Constructed in 1890 in the Queen Anne style, the John W. Chandler House, in the Northampton County town of Exmore, is a large frame dwelling clad in weatherboard crowned by a complex hipped-cross-gabled, slate-shingle roof, with an octagonal tower accentuating the house’s northeast corner. The house also features a two-story projecting canted bay capped by a closed gable, and a projecting curved bay, crowned by a closed gable with Palladian-style window. At the time of its listing in the registers, the owner restored the wraparound porch with Tuscan columns that formerly dominated the façade. John W. Chandler was an Eastern Shore native, who became the largest produce broker in the region during the early 20th century. He invested heavily in Northampton real estate and originally platted the villages of Exmore and Oyster, providing for their economic support with his various businesses that included oyster harvesting, fire insurance, and fertilizer manufacturing. He primarily farmed and timbered the more than 2,000 acres of land he owned to support his main produce-shipping business.
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
Nomination Form
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