Abandoned Classical Revival Mansion in VA
Greenville House, Raccoon's Ford Virginia
Greenville is an unusually large Piedmont rural residence of great visual interest because of its, grandiose if, not, ostentatious, quality. Although inspired by the Classical Revival, its architecture is freely interpreted rather than academically pure, all in an attempt to emphasize scale and impact. This is especially evident in the massive three-story Tuscan columns that support an exceptionally tall Italianate bracketed entablature. The cornice not only adds height but masks a rare M roof. Built in 1854 for Philip Pendleton Nalle, Greenville is interesting also because of its relative lateness; few great country houses were built in central Virginia immediately before the Civil War because of a general economic decline. Architecturally, Greenville is more akin to the buildings of the deep South than to anything in Virginia. The Classical Revival had declined in popularity in Virginia and the North by the middle of the 19th century in favor of the more picturesque styles that were to characterize postbellum American architecture. By the 1850s the use of a Classical vocabulary became limited primarily to the domestic architecture of the deep South, where rural examples tended to assume a monumental size and exaggeration of detail not always academically correct. There seems to be no clear-cut explanation of how Nalle could have amassed the fortune required to build such a house.
Nalle, whose antecedents had lived in Culpeper since the mid-18th century, was born in 1816. He owned property at Raccoon's Ford including several buildings which he sold when he purchased the land for Greenville in 1847. Consisting of 388½ acres, the property was purchased from Thomas Wharton for $9,700. The deed specifically mentions a family burying ground of the Whartons indicating occupancy of the property at an earlier date. Nalle is believed to have operated a mercantile establishment at Raccoon's Ford which was most probably his earliest source of income. After his purchase of the Greenville tract, the Culpeper County Personal Property Tax Books list his ownership in 1852 of over a hundred head of cattle. As late as 1895 he is listed as a farmer in the county directory. His improvements on the Greenville tract are listed in 1854 as $4,000, a figure that was $1,000 greater than any other house in the district. Indeed, the structure's circular stairs and formal plan show the work of an experienced master builder, who unfortunately has not been identified.
Greenville was strategically situated in the middle of the Union and Confederate lines between 1863 and 1864. At one point the Confederate forces were positioned on a hill overlooking the house from the south side of the Rapidan River and Union lines ran through the middle of the Greenville property. According to one local historian: "The people who stayed here during that time were afraid to go into the yard for fear of being shot. On one occasion when the roof had been damaged, an attempt was made to mend it but there were soon no doubt of the danger such a move brought. Bullets whistled too near the would-be mender and he soon came down." A field next to the house was later called "canon ball field".
At Nalle's death in 1905, the property passed to his son, Philip Pendleton Nalle, Jr. In 1918 the house was sold out of the builder's family and has been sporadically occupied. It is presently abandoned.
Building Description
Greenville, a large Classical Revival residence, is situated on a farm southeast of State Route 647 in Culpeper County. Erected in 1854, the stretcher-bond brick dwelling is a three-story, 54' x 38'8" structure with a low-pitch M roof (ridge and valley) covered by sheet metal.
The house is set on an English basement. The front (north) elevation is dominated by a Tuscan portico of three stories. Brick columns covered with stucco and set on brick bases support a deep, Italianate bracket entablature with a small central pediment. A wooden landing on the first story extends from the front door to the columns. The landing, supported by posts, was intended to have a tailing and steps. The rear (south) elevation features a two-story porch covered by a shed roof. The porch retains its railing and steps which appear to be somewhat crude replacements. Peeling stucco has revealed the brick masonry of the columns. One interior end chimney peeks above the east wall, while two interior end chimneys are on the west wall.
The main (north) entrance is distinguished by a pedimented frontispiece enclosing a transom-and-sidelight doorway which retains its original paneled door. The rear (south) entrance consists of a symmetrical architrave that encases a transom-light doorway and original paneled door. Fenestration on the north elevation consists of three-part windows of 4/4 hung sash flanked by 2/2 hung sash. The windows on the basement story are topped by cornices supported by brackets. The first- and second-story windows have pediments supported by brackets. Paneled aprons are found beneath the sills. The windows on the east elevation consist of 6/6 hung sash topped by cornices. The west elevation is without openings; rather, the illusion of fenestration is suggested by closed louvered shutters that cover the blind wall. This is also the case with the northernmost bay on the east elevation. The shutters retain their original iron hinges.
Greenville has a central-hall plan. The basement most probably served as the dining area, while the first floor functioned as the reception area with the second floor given over to bedchambers. The arrangement was altered in the present century when the southwestern parlor was converted into a kitchen and the southeastern room into a bath. Dominating the hall is an open-well stair that ascends to the top floor. The stair, which begins at the basement has a handsomely turned newel, a rounded handrail and square balusters, two to a tread. A simple, closed-well lateral stair on the eastern end wall also ascends from the basement to the top floor. The original pine flooring and plastered walls have survived in the hall and in the first- and second-story rooms. The southeastern and southwestern basement rooms appear never to have been plastered. The southwestern room has a dirt floor and may have been used for storage. The original mantels from the basement to the third floor are simple in execution and consist of Doric pilasters supporting a plain frieze and shelf. The doors, windows, and mantels of the western parlors consist of a more elaborate crossette architrave ornamented with applied, molded square blocks. A sliding door, similarly treated, serves to separate the two first-floor western parlors. Original double-paneled doors survive throughout the house. Original hardware has been removed.
To the rear of the house is a single outbuilding. The one-story, 31' x 16'7" five-course American-bond brick edifice is covered by a sheet-metal gable roof. The building has two semi-exterior end chimneys. The north wall contains two entries, while the south wall has two openings that originally had hung sash. The interior is in a decayed state.
The house is set on a flat lawn dotted with locust trees. Surrounding the yard are open fields. To the south of the house is a modern, one-story residence.
