The Garth Newel Music Center in Bath County is the former estate and residence of husband and wife artists William Sergeant Kendall and Christine Herter Kendall. Begun in1923 soon after the couple moved to Virginia, the rural 114-acre property is where the Kendells painted, raised award-winning Arabian horses, and entertained guests in a main house with an open floor plan that could accommodate the private concerts often hosted there. A distinguished artist, William Sergeant Kendall achieved international recognition as a painter in the academic style. After he died in 1938, Christine Herter Kendell, also an accomplished artist, as well as an author, musician and patron of the arts, continued to make Garth Newel her home until her death in 1981. In 1973 she co-founded the Garth Newel Music Center, bequeathing her estate to the nonprofit at her death, ensuring Garth Newel would continue as a venue for small concerts. Today it is the only residential music center in Virginia that exists strictly for the study and performance of chamber music. The property also features a one-story modern Ranch-style residence, two other secondary dwellings, a riding arena and horse barn, and stone entrance piers and retaining walls.
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