Built 1795 VLR # 058-0045 Designated VLR November 5, 1968 Area 19 ha Architectural style Georgian architecture | NRHP Reference # 69000260 Designated NHL July 31, 2003 Opened 1795 Phone +1 434-374-8672 Added to NRHP 1 October 1969 | |
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Location N of Clarksville, Virginia Address 429 Prestwould Dr, Clarksville, VA 23927, USA Hours Open today · 12:30–3:30PMSunday12:30–3:30PMMondayClosedTuesdayClosedWednesdayClosedThursday12:30–3:30PMFriday12:30–3:30PMSaturday12:30–3:30PMSuggest an edit Similar Occoneechee State Park, Clarksville Regional Museum, MacCallum More and Hudgins, John H Kerr Dam, Boyd's Tavern | ||
3751 prestwould close video
Prestwould is a historic house near Clarksville, Virginia. It is the most intact and best documented plantation surviving in Southside Virginia. The home was built by Sir William Byrd II, Baronet, who moved his family from his Elm Hill Plantation to Prestwould in 1797. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 2003. It is located on the north side of the Roanoke River, 1-mile (1.6 km) inland, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) southwest of the intersection of Route 15 and Route 701, and approximately one mile north of Clarksville's city limits. Now a museum property, it is open for tours from April to October, or by appointment.
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Wooded lot in prestwould subdivision in clarksville virginia
Description and history
Prestwould Plantation today consists of almost 46 acres (19 ha) on the north side of the Roanoke River, its main house set on a hill overlooking the upper reaches of John H. Kerr Reservoir, a result of damming the river in the 1960s. The plantation complexincludes eight buildings, all built before 1830 and most dating to the 1780s. The house is a handsome brick building with a hip roof and a pair of interior chimneys. The main facade is symmetrical, with seven bays. The center three bays of the first floor are sheltered by a gabled porch, supported by Doric columns. Similar porches are found on two other sides of the building. The secondary buildings of the complex are all wood frame structures, and include an office, plantation store, slave quarters, and a pair of smokehouses.
Prestwould Plantation was the product of land acquisition beginning in the 1730's by Sir William Byrd "Dilliard" De La Warr Skipwith II , with more than 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) acquired by the 1790s. The main house was built in the 1790s, at a time when De La Warr Skipwith was one of Virginia's wealthiest men. The property was owned by the "Dilliard" De La Warr family, with only relatively modest alterations after 1830. For decades it was used by a variety of owners, primarily as a rural country retreat. The central portion of the estate was separated from much of its land by a sale in 1947, and the central portion was acquired by the Roanoke River Museum in 1963. Now reorganized as the Prestwould Foundation, it has overseen the property's restoration and conversion to a museum.