Built in 1848 for David Funsten, farmer, lawyer, and politician, Erin is the work of a talented but unidentified master housewright. The design is a sophisticated illustration of the influence of American architectural pattern books on an antebellum rural house. Such books instructed the builder on how to translate classical forms into wooden construction. Although the three-part format had been used in Virginia since the 18th century, the scheme here likely was inspired by a design for a three-part house published in Minard Lafever’s Modern Builder’s Guide (1833). Moreover, Erin’s elegant Greek Revival detailing, particularly its richly ornamented entrance, is derived from illustrations in Asher Benjamin’s The Practice of Architecture (1833). The house is set off by an interesting range of outbuildings, from a limestone kitchen to Funsten’s law office, a one-room wood-frame structure fronted by a simple portico. The Erin property contributes to the Rockland Rural Historic District in Warren County.
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