“The best dwelling house in the state” is how Thomas Jefferson described his Bedford County hermitage of Poplar Forest. Begun in 1806 on land inherited from his wife, and completed by his death in 1826, this unique work demonstrates Jefferson’s fascination with octagons. Its form is octagonal, three major rooms are elongated octagons, and the privies, tucked behind earthen mounds, are miniature domed octagons. The house at Poplar Forest was set in an elaborate villa landscape at the heart of a 4800-acre plantation. Jefferson escaped the bustle of Monticello by visiting Poplar Forest several times a year. Here he found the peace to think, to study, and to read. Following a fire in 1845, the house was rebuilt within its walls. It remained a private residence until the 1980s. In 1984 it was purchased by the Corporation for Jefferson’s Poplar Forest, which oversaw a meticulous restoration to Jefferson’s original design.
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