041-0004

Berry Hill

VLR Listing Date

11/05/1968

NRHP Listing Date

11/25/1969

NHL Listing Date

11/11/1971
1971-11-11

NRHP Reference Number

69000246
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easements

A premier monument of the American Greek Revival, Berry Hill’s imposing mansion was erected in 1842-44 for James Coles Bruce, one of Virginia’s most affluent antebellum planters. Its architect, John E. Johnson, also designed the Gothic Revival mansion Staunton Hill for Bruce’s half-brother Charles Bruce. Berry Hill’s contractor was Josiah Dabbs. The house stands in a broad, semi-circular landscaped park in Halifax County, and is flanked by porticoed dependencies forming a dramatic architectural ensemble. The façade is dominated by a heroic octastyle portico in the Doric order of the Parthenon. No less impressive is the lofty interior with its grand divided stair, ornamental ceilings medallions, and imported marble mantels. A colonnaded service wing projects from the rear of Berry Hill. This remarkably preserved plantation retains significant outbuildings, both sites and ruins of numerous slave quarters, and one of the state’s largest cemeteries for enslaved African Americans.

Last Updated: January 30, 2024

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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

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(NHLs) Virginia's National Historic Landmarks

041-0048

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Halifax (County)

041-5295

Oak Cliff

Halifax (County)