One of Virginia’s most distinctive examples of country rural Greek Revival domestic architecture, this dwelling illustrates how the classical architectural vocabulary could be adapted to embellish fully modern, specifically American forms. Abel Beach Nichols, a Connecticut merchant, settled in Virginia in 1820 and built Three Otters in Bedford County some ten years later. Although its designer/builder has not been identified, much of the detailing, inside and out, was faithfully reproduced from Asher Benjamin’s The Practical House Carpenter (1830), a popular pattern book of the period. A unique feature is the series of small windows in the metopes that, when opened, form a ventilation system. Other features of interest include the marbleized stair, the Flemish-bond brickwork, and the ruins of an original brick chicken house.