Nomination Form
The brick plantation house of Magnolia Grange, prominently situated across from the Chesterfield County courthouse, was built for William Winfree in 1823. It is the county’s most sophisticated example of the Federal style and is noted for its elaborate woodwork and ornamental ceiling medallions. The design source for the medallions was Asher Benjamin’s American Builder’s Companion (1806), an architectural pattern book widely used by Virginia builders. The similarity of the trim to that in other Virginia Federal-style mansions, notably Hampstead, Horn Quarter, and Upper Brandon, suggests common craftsmen. The exterior displays the formality characteristic of the Federal mode, having a symmetrical five-bay façade and hipped roof. The present portico is a modern replacement of an earlier one. Magnolia Grange was purchased by Chesterfield County in 1984 and was then exhibited as a museum by the Chesterfield County Historical Society.
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
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
