Slave and Tenant House, Bacon's Castle, Bacon's Castle, VA (3)
**Bacon's Castle** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000849, date listed 19661015
Off VA 10
Bacon's Castle, VA (Surry County)
A National Historic Landmark (www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nh...).
The nation’s outstanding example of high-style 17th-century domestic architecture, and the oldest documented house in Virginia, Bacon’s Castle was erected in 1665 for Arthur Allen. Pure Jacobean in form and detail, the house is distinguished by its cruciform plan, curvilinear gables, and diagonal chimney stacks. It acquired its present name in 1676, when, during Bacon’s Rebellion, the house was fortified by a group of Nathaniel Bacon’s followers. The house was modified in the 18th century when the first-floor paneling was installed and the windows were changed from casements to wooden sash. Further alterations occurred in the 1840s when a Greek Revival wing was added. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now Preservation Virginia) purchased the property in 1973 and exhibits it as a museum. On the grounds is a vast formal garden, reconstructed from archaeological evidence of the original 17th-century garden. (1)
Bacon’s Castle is the oldest brick dwelling in North America and was once the home of Arthur Allen, a prosperous merchant and planter, and his family. Allen’s Brick House earned the moniker “Bacon’s Castle” in 1676 when several of Nathaniel Bacon’s men occupied the home for four months during the uprising that became known as Bacon’s Rebellion. (2)
This building was first constructed in 1829 by the Cocke family, descendants of Arthur Allen. There was a single door and a porch. In 1834 there were eighty slaves working on the property, some of whom were probably housed in this building. The Hankins family, who owned the property during the Civil War, added an addition and possibly removed the porch in 1849. The floor plan today matches what would have been present in the late 1800s. (from local signage)
References (1) VA Dept of Historic Resources www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/090-0001/
(2) Preservation VA preservationvirginia.org/historic-sites/bacons-castle/#
Slave and Tenant House, Bacon's Castle, Bacon's Castle, VA (3)
**Bacon's Castle** - National Register of Historic Places Ref # 66000849, date listed 19661015
Off VA 10
Bacon's Castle, VA (Surry County)
A National Historic Landmark (www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalhistoriclandmarks/list-of-nh...).
The nation’s outstanding example of high-style 17th-century domestic architecture, and the oldest documented house in Virginia, Bacon’s Castle was erected in 1665 for Arthur Allen. Pure Jacobean in form and detail, the house is distinguished by its cruciform plan, curvilinear gables, and diagonal chimney stacks. It acquired its present name in 1676, when, during Bacon’s Rebellion, the house was fortified by a group of Nathaniel Bacon’s followers. The house was modified in the 18th century when the first-floor paneling was installed and the windows were changed from casements to wooden sash. Further alterations occurred in the 1840s when a Greek Revival wing was added. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now Preservation Virginia) purchased the property in 1973 and exhibits it as a museum. On the grounds is a vast formal garden, reconstructed from archaeological evidence of the original 17th-century garden. (1)
Bacon’s Castle is the oldest brick dwelling in North America and was once the home of Arthur Allen, a prosperous merchant and planter, and his family. Allen’s Brick House earned the moniker “Bacon’s Castle” in 1676 when several of Nathaniel Bacon’s men occupied the home for four months during the uprising that became known as Bacon’s Rebellion. (2)
This building was first constructed in 1829 by the Cocke family, descendants of Arthur Allen. There was a single door and a porch. In 1834 there were eighty slaves working on the property, some of whom were probably housed in this building. The Hankins family, who owned the property during the Civil War, added an addition and possibly removed the porch in 1849. The floor plan today matches what would have been present in the late 1800s. (from local signage)
References (1) VA Dept of Historic Resources www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/090-0001/
(2) Preservation VA preservationvirginia.org/historic-sites/bacons-castle/#