Dr. Christian Hockman’s house, conspicuously located on U. S. Route 11 in Shenandoah County, is a rare example of the Italian Villa style in the lower Shenandoah Valley. The square tower is the style’s signature feature. The mass-manufactured exterior and interior woodwork are illustrative of an important change in the region’s building tradition. Supplanting ornaments made by hand, the machine-made components were sold through illustrated catalogs in major towns and cities and were distributed through rural areas by the ever-widening railroad network. The Hockman House was built in 1868-70 just as rail service was opened from Baltimore to the nearby town of Edinburg in Shenandoah County. Dr. Hockman is listed in the 1885 atlas as a dentist, living just north of Edinburg on the Valley Turnpike. The manor house stood unoccupied for several years but has since been restored and is now a bed and breakfast inn.
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
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