Nomination Form
Ruffner House, located in Page County on the outskirts of the town of Luray, is a two-story brick dwelling built in two phases. The original section was constructed about 1825 for Jonas Ruffner, a trustee of the town when it was founded in 1812. Around 1850, owner William Chapman enlarged the structure to its present size. The house features a richly ornamented Federal entryway and other Federal- and Greek Revival-style decorative elements. In the early 1880s, the property became a part of the adjacent Luray Tannery. The Deford family, owners of the tannery from the 1890s to 1950, added a number of buildings to the Ruffner House property such as a rambling Victorian dwelling known as the Cottage, an 1890s frame bank barn, and a circa 1930 swimming pool. The main house and the Cottage served as residences for the tannery’s owners, superintendents, and workers.
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
