United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries-complete applicable sections 1. Name historic Carrsbrook andlor common 2. Location Carrsbrook Subdivision; State Route 1424 street & number N/A not for publication Charlottesville X ... Seventh (J. Kenneth city, town -vlclnlty of congressional district Robinson) state Virginia code 51 County Albemarle code 003 3. Classification Category Ownership Status Present Use -district -public X occupied -agriculture -museum X building@) X private -unoccupied -commercial -park -structure -both -work in progress -educational X private residence -site Public Acquisition Accessible -entertainment -religious -object -in process 2yes: restricted -government -scientific -being considered - yes: unrestricted -industrial -transportation N /A -no -militarv -other: 4. Owner of Property name Dr. James McClellan street & number 313 Gloucester Road citv, town Charlottesville N/Avicinitv of state Virginia 22901 5. Location of Legal Description courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Albemarle County Courthouse N/A street & number city,town Charlottesville state Virginia (2) (See Continuation 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Sheet #1) (1) Historic American Buildings X title Survey has this property been determined eiegibie? -yes -no date 1939 _X federal -state -county -local deDositow for survev records Librarv of Conaress city, town Washington state D. C. Condition Check one Check one -excellent -deteriorated X unaltered original site 2~good -ruins -altered -moved date N/A -fair -unexposed Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance Carrsbrook was once part of a thousand-acre tract of land. Sited high on a bluff, the house was provided with sweeping vistas of the Rivanna River Valley and Southwest Mountains. Although the farm was subdivided into one-acre lots in 1960, the main house remains visually separated from its neighbors to the east and west and maintains an open vista to the river valley to the north. Palladian in form, the long, five-part house was constructed between 1780 and 1790. Built on a foundation of coursed fieldstone, the frame structure is covered with beaded weatherboards, some of which are original. The gable roofs originally had wooden shingles but are now covered in standing-seam sheet metal; all are outlined with heavy modillion- block, molded cornices. The proportions of the house, including its verticality and steep roof pitches, its asymmetry, and the unique plan of the interior, prove Carrsbrook to be a provincial inter- pretation of the five-part plan popularized in Robert Morris's Select Architecture (1757). The central core of the dwelling house is a projecting three-bay, 2%-story structure with an entrance in the center bay. The entrance facade (south) is distinguished by a pedimented gable end, the tympanum composed of flush boarding pierced by a lunette. The pediment is echoed in the single-story dwarf portico, supported by Doric columns, which shelters the paneled door of the main entrance. Flanking the central block are 1%-story, single-bay wings having pedimented ends lighted by bull's-eye windows. Each wing is connected to the main block by a one-story, one-bay hyphen, the bays serving as secondary entrances to the house. Old photographs show that single-story, open porches with squared posts at one time extended across the hyphens and wings. An interior ridge chimney rises above the main block, while exterior end chimneys of Flemish-bond brick are located on the rear elevations of the wings. These chimneys are partially covered by the single-story and 1%-story extensions added to the wings in 1960. Only the north elevation of the central block is left exposed. Originally a porch protected its center-bay entrance. The single door with multi-light transom now opens onto a flagstone terrace ornamented by a Chinese-lattice railing. A 6/6 double-hung sash window lights the attic space. Fenestration throughout the original portion of the house consists mainly of 9/9 double-hung sash windows flanked by louvred shutters. Some of the sash and glass appear - to be original. The plan of Carrsbrook forms a "T" with a lateral hall at the rear of the center section connecting the two wings. Corresponding with a Mutual Assurance Society policy of 1812, the main section measures 30' x 22' with 13%-foot covered "wings" joining the asymmetrical wings: the east 16' x 16' and the west 22' x 16'. Although the house under- went an extensive restoration in 1960, the original rooms have besn little altered. Original cyma moldings, molded chair rails, wainscot, and deep baseboards decurate the first-floor rooms. The heart-pine floors as well as many of the original six-panel doors with box locks remain intact. (See Continuation Sheet #1) 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance--Check and justify below -prehistoric -archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape architecture- religion -1400-1499 -archeology-historic -conservation -law -science -1500-1599 -agriculture -economic~ -literature. -sculpture -1600-1699 X architecture X education -mllltary -social1 X 1700-1799 -art -engineering -music humanitarian -1800-1899 -commerce -exploration/settlement philosophy -theater -1900- -communications -industry 1L politicsigovernment transportation -invention -other (specify) Specific dates ca. 1780-1790 BuilderIArchitect Unknown Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Carrsbrook in Albemarle County is a provincial adaptation of the Palladian five-part house. Characterized by a central pavilion with perpendicular-set wings connected by hyphens, the design was introduced to Tidewater Virginia in the 1760s through Robert Morris's influential handbook Select Architecture (1757). Along with Brandon in Prince George County and Battersea in Petersburg, Carrsbrook represents a notable departure from the rectangular structures characteristic of Virginia's early Georgian architecture. Carrsbrook was built between 1780 and 1790 for Capt. Thomas Carr, a wealthy county planter and soldier who inherited the land from his father, John Carr of Louisa County, in 1778. From 1798 to 1815 the house served as the residence and school of Thomas Jefferson's ward and nephew, Peter Carr, with whom it is traditionally associated. Because of Jefferson's close relationship with the Carr family and his familiarity with the Morris handbook, it is thought that Jefferson may have influenced the design of the house, although its pro- portions stray too far from classical standards to suggest that he was the architect. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Local tradition maintains that'carrsbrook "as.built in 1794 by Peter Carr on land inherited from his grandmother, Barbara Overton Carr, of Louisa. There is no evidence to substantiate this claim, however. Barbara Overton Carr owned no property in Albemarle, and her will, proved in Louisa County on January 17, 1795, bequeathed only small personal possessions to her heirs.1 During the 1790s until as late as ~u~ust~l796,Peter Carr lived intermittently at Monticello and that summer took rooms in Charlottesville while Jefferson was remodeling and enlarging ont tic el lo.^ The earliest letter written by Peter Carr to Jefferson from Carrsbrook is dated May 7, 1798.~ While Carr appears to have taken residence at Carrsbrook soon after his marriage to Hetty Smith Stevenson of Baltimore in 1797, the relevant county records of Albemarle, Goochland, Louisa, and Caroline, together with manuscript sources, support the conclusion that Carrsbrook was built before 1790 and not by Peter Carr. The land on which Carrsbrook is situated once formed part of a larger tract consisting ,. of several thousand acres on both sides of the South Fork of the Rivanna River patented in 1730 by Thomas Carr of Caroline. Over the next several years Carr acquired three additional tracts in the vicinity of his original patent, accumulating nearly ten thousand acres in Albemarle County before his death in 1737. Thomils Carr's will is no longer extant. but a deed recorded in Louisa County in 1750 indicates that his son, John Carr, inherited the Albemarle property in 1743.~ A prominent citizen of Louisa County who lived at "Bear Castle," John Carr served as one of the first justices of Louisa when it was formed in 1742 and later as county sheriff in 1753. His first wife was the mother of Thomas Carr, his oldest son, born in 1736. His second wife, Barbara Overton Carr, was the mother of Dabney Carr, Thomas Jefferson's good friend and Peter Carr's father, who died in 1772. John Carr's will, proved in 1778, devised (See Continuation Sheet #2) 9. Major Bibliographical References (See Continuation Sheet #5) Albernarle County --Deed Books 5, 6, 11, 20, 21. District ---Court Deed Book #1. ---Land Tax Books 1782-1825. Patent Books 13, 34, 15, 28. 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property ~~~d~~~~i~name Charlottesville East 7.5, Va. Quadrangle scale 1:24000 UMT References 1712i311 i6 iO1 14i2 11 191013i0( Zone Easting Northing Zone Easting Northing Verbal boundary description and justification Beginning at a point on N side of VA 1423, at intersec tion with^ private driveway, about 3200' E of intersection of US 29 and VA 854; thence extending about 500' NE along E side of said drive; thence continuing about 100' NE to 420' contour; thence about 300' SE along said contour; thence about 450'