Nomination Form
The Oaks, the seat of the Richardson/Bowles family for over 200 years, features a substantial brick house begun about 1800 and finished in 1830. It has fine vernacular woodwork that is carved, incised, grained, and painted. It appears to incorporate every skill practiced by rural craftsmen. Also situated in the shade of the large oaks that give the place its name are an outdoor kitchen (later used as a schoolroom), a smokehouse, an icehouse, a lattice-covered well, and a barn. The house is surrounded by fields under cultivation. Across the road is the large Richardson/Bowles cemetery. The Oaks property straddles the Fluvanna-Goochland County line, which, according to local tradition, runs right through the center hall.
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
