Completed in 1862 for Samuel Pannill Wilson, an ardent secessionist who raised troops for the Confederacy, Windsor’s Italianate mansion and collection of outbuildings form the last of the elaborate antebellum plantation complexes built in Pittsylvania County by generations of rich planters and entrepreneurs. The layout follows patterns established in the colonial period, incorporating a formal, symmetrical residence, architecturally sophisticated outbuildings, geometric gardens, and prominent siting. Of particular interest is Windsor’s Victorian interior appointments which include original gasoliers, Brussels carpeting, and plasterwork ceiling medallions. One facade is embellished with a cast-iron veranda. Family tradition maintains that the Civil War prevented the erection of a similar veranda ordered for the opposite side. The parts of this veranda remain in their original packing cases here.
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