Scottsville Homes

One of Scottsville's most beautiful and interesting attractions is its architecture. Some one hundred old buildings remain inside the town limits, many of them homes dating before the Civil War with three homes built before 1800. Excellent examples of Roman Revival (1800-1830) and Greek Revival (1830-1860) architecture can be seen in the houses along Harrison and Jackson Streets. Other storybook houses, built after the Civil War through the early 1900's, nestle comfortably in their historic surroundings along Harrison, Jackson, and Main Streets. Just outside the Scottsville town limits are many other homes that also have interesting histories and architecture. These sturdy homes, surrounded with boxwoods and poplars, have the look of homes that have not passed from owner to owner, but have withstood the test of taste and time.

Please click on each image for a larger view and more information.

The Terrace

Date: 1897

Image Number: B01cdB19

Comments: The Terrace is a Victorian-style residence on Scottsville's Jackson Street, built in 1897 by Dr. and Mrs. Pinckney Powers. For many years the Terrace was the home of Miss Susie Blair, granddaughter of the D.P. Powers and a member of the first Scottsville Museum Board when it was dedicated on July 4, 1970.

Barclay House

Date: ca. 1900

Image Number: B02cdB19

Comments: The Barclay House is a small townhouse on Scottsville's Lot 31 and is next door to the Disciples of Christ Church on Main Street. John B. Hart purchased this property without a structure in 1830 and resold the lot six months later for his original purchase price. On January 1, 1838, Daniel P. Perkins sold Lot 31 with its 'house and lot on Main Street' to Sarah C. Harris, mother of James Turner Barclay. By 1850, Dr. James Turner Barclay and his family lived in this house next door to the Disciples of Christ Church where he was its first minister. Today the Barclay House serves as Scottsville Museum's historical and genealogical resource center.

Mountain View

Date: ca. 1900

Image Number: M28cdKM01

Comments: Mountain View was a farm on Mt. Vista Road near Scottsville. It was owned by Captain John Lee Pitts in the early 1900's and became the home of his son, Lindsay Pitts, after World War I.

Fairview, now 'High Meadows'

Date: ca. 1904

Image Number: E21cdE01

Comments: The family of Charles Bascom Harris, Sr., gather in front of their Fairview home in Scottsville. This elegant two-story brick home was constructed by Harris in 1883. Behind it was a smaller brick home built ca. 1832 by Peter White, the surveyor of Scottsville. Harris chose to join these two homes via a longitudinal hall. With its 1985 restoration, Fairview became a country inn known as 'High Meadows.'

Idylwood, Home of William E. Burgess

Date: June 6, 1909

Image Number: DB17cdDB04

Comments: Idylwood was the home and photo studio of William E. Burgess, an accomplished photographer of Scottsville and Virginia. Located near Driver's Hill and east of Scottsville, Idylwood was destroyed by fire in the 1960's.

Snowden

Date: 1915

Image Number: RollTenNeg16A

Comments: Snowden was the 1300-acre estate owned by Peter Jefferson (1708-1757), father of Thomas and Randolph Jefferson. Located on the south side of Horseshoe Bend, the original home sat on a high bluff overlooking Scottsville and the James River. The original home burned, and by 1857, this one was built at a different spot on the same bluff. See the larger image for more information as well as a 1907 Burgess photo showing Snowden from the Scottsville side of the James River.

Belle Haven

Date: ca. 1915

Image Number: M39cdM03

Comments: Belle Haven is a Victorian residence built ca. 1880 for an English family named Clark; Captain John L. Pitts bought this home around 1900. Belle Haven sits on 46 acres of land overlooking the James River at Scottsville. Some of its unique features are richly decorated vergeboards in its gables and Tiffany glass windows.

Cliffside

Date: ca. 1915

Image Number: EEcdEE01

Comments: Cliffside sits on a steep hill overlooking Scottsville and was built in 1835 for Dr. Gilly M. Lewis, a local doctor and owner of Albemarle Mill on the Hardware River. Long the home of the Lewis family, Cliffside also served as the headquarters of Generals Philip Sheridan and Armstrong Custer during the Union raid of Scottsville in March 1865. Later Captain John L. Pitts bought Cliffside for his sons, and in this photo Elizabeth (Holladay) Pitts, his daughter-in-law, is shown standing on the home's front steps. In 1929, Virginia Moore, author of Scottsville on the James, purchased Cliffside and lived there until her death in 1993.

Glendower

Date: ca. 1916

Image Number: EE06cdEE01

Comments: Glendower sits on part of the 1732 land grant to Edward Scott and lies on the north side of the James River "at a place called Totier." It is possible that the present dwelling at Glendower was built by Samuel Dyer about 1808.

New Valmont

Date: ca. 1920's

Image Number: Roll4Neg21A

Comments: Pictured here is new Valmont, built after the Civil War on the 550 acres of land patented by Edward Scott in 1732. This home replaced Scott's original manor house, which was burned by the Union Army during the waning days of the Civil War.

The Palace

Date: 1927

Image Number: B418cdB28

Comments: 'The Palace' on Scottsville's Valley Street was the home of William 'Billy' S. Beal. This low-slung home, located at the right of Victory Theater, has been razed and now serves as a parking area by the Town of Scottsville offices. But during its Scottsville days, it is fondly remembered for its broad front porch where old Civil War veterans gathered to discuss their war experiences and watch town life bustle about them.

Pine Knot, Hunting Lodge of Theodore Roosevelt

Date: ca. 1930

Image Number: JH11cdJH01

Comments: Pine Knot is a rustic cottage near Keene, Virginia, that served as the Albemarle County getaway for President Theodore Roosevelt and his family from 1905-1908. In 1905, Edith Kermit Roosevelt purchased this newly built farmhand's cottage and 15 acres from William Willmer, an old family friend and owner of Plain Dealing Farm. Pine Knot stayed in the Roosevelt family until 1941 when it was sold to George Omohundro, Teddy's hunting partner and neighbor at Pine Knot.

Chester

Date: unknown

Image Number: Roll3Neg6A

Comments: This beautiful home, located on Scottsville's James River Road, was built in 1847 by Joseph C. Wright, a retired landscape architect from Chester, England. In 1853, George Walden Dillard purchased Chester while living at the Mill House in Glendower. In March 1865, Chester played a part in the Civil War during General Sheridan's occupation and partial destruction of Scottsville.

Mt. Walla

Date: 1937

Image Number: VHIP_11_0189

Comments: Mt. Walla sits on a bluff overlooking Scottsville and the James River. John Scott built this home around 1775, and Peter Field Jefferson, son of Randolph Jefferson and nephew of Thomas Jefferson, purchased the home from Scott in 1822.

Riverview

Date: 1937

Image Number: VHIP_02_0364

Comments: Littleberry Moon, a wealthy Scottsville merchant, began building this house after marrying Sallie Price Perkins in 1812. By 1825, the house had been expanded to a two-story configuration shown in this photo.

The Doll House

Date: 1937

Image Number: Roll7Neg4A

Comments: The Doll House was a one-story frame house, built around 1810 or earlier, and once owned by Peter Field Jefferson, grandson of Thomas Jefferson's brother, Randolph. Later the house was owned by Rev. John A. Doll, who co-founded the Union Baptist Church on Hardware Street with the Rev. Henry Smith. The Doll House occupies Scottsville Lot 36 and faces Main Street.

Hatton Grange

Date: ca. 1937

Image Number: EE08cdEE01

Comments: Originally named "Mountain View" and now "Hatton Grange," this charming James River plantation is located 5 miles west of Scottsville. James Bruce purchased the plantation from Wilson Cary Nicholas, a Trustee and influential farmer in Albemarle County after the Revolutionary War. Bruce sold the land to Dr. Joseph B. Glover of Buckingham County on November 25, 1831, and Dr. Glover built this 12-room residence shortly thereafter. In 1847, Hatton Grange ownership passed to Dr. Glover's daughter, who had married James Mason, a prominent Scottsville banker and businessman.

Viewmont

Date: ca. 1937

Image Number: LOC160638pr

Comments: Joshua Fry, one of the founding fathers of Albemarle County, Virginia, built the original Viewmont house by 1737. That structure burned before 1800 but was rebuilt on the same foundation and retained the old massive chimneys at either end of the house. Located nine miles northeast of Scottsville on Rt. 20, Viewmont was the home of Lottie Moon, a famous Baptist missionary to North China in the late 1800's.

Jefferies-Bruce House

Date: ca. 1969

Image Number: B252cdB25

Comments: This Scottsville home is located on Harrison Street between Lindsay and Clements Streets (Lots 172-174) and was built ca. 1838 for the Jefferies family. Later the Thomas Ellison Bruce family lived here. The Jefferies-Bruce house is an excellent example of 19th century symmetery in design and craftsmanship.

Old Hall

Date: August 7, 1973

Image Number: B253cdB25

Comments: Old Hall was built circa 1830 on the southwest corner of Byrd and Harrison Streets (Lots 167 and 168) in Scottsville. Known also as the James W. Mason House after its first owner, it was purchased from Mason by Joseph R. Beal in 1856 and remained in the Beal family for 101 years.

The Tompkins House

Date: ca. 1973

Image Number: B254cdB25

Comments: The Tompkins House is one of the oldest houses in Scottsville and is located just east of Valley Street on Jackson Street. It was built for Dr. Samuel Tompkins ca. 1800 and is a simply constructed, one and a half- storied house.

The Harris-Hill House

Date: unknown

Image Number: E03cdE01

Comments: The Harris-Hill House was the home of Miletus and Frances Caroline Harris when the Civil War started. Located just south of the Baptist Church on Harrison Street, this home was purchased in 1889 by the Major James C. Hill family of Scottsville.

Shadows

Date: 2001

Image Number: GD01CDGD01

Comments: Shadows is a two-story frame house believed to have been built ca. 1825 by a member of the town¹s founding Scott family. A recently uncovered inner log wall indicates that a portion of the house is of even older construction. The earliest known owner of the house was Peyton Harrison who purchased the part of town known as the Harrison Addition and founded the Scottsville Presbyterian Church.

The Dr. Percy Harris House

Date: 2002

Image Number: CG03cdCG01

Comments: The Harris House on West Main Street was built in 1934 and served as the home and office of Dr. Percy Harris, a physician, farmer, and former Mayor of Scottsville (1943-1953).

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Scottsville Museum · 290 Main Street · Scottsville, Virginia 24590 · 434-286-2247