Colorful graining, marbleizing, and polychromy, as well as elaborately stylized woodwork, were popular decorative treatments of the Shenandoah Valley homes of farmers of German origin. The Coiner House in Augusta County, built ca. 1825, holds one of the least altered and most spectacular examples of such decoration yet discovered. Installed in a deceptively plain brick I-house, as was often the case, the boldness of the colors and the imagination and skill with which the mantels, doors, stair, and other trim are executed serve to make the rooms a fascinating document of American folk art. The parlor mantel is embellished with neoclassical motifs of urns and sunbursts so stylized and elaborated that they bear little resemblance to the pattern-book Federal-style designs that inspired them. Typical of early brick houses of the area, the Coiner House employs Flemish-bond brick walls and a molded brick cornice. In recent years, the property has been vacant and the Coiner House left unmaintained.