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 Greene County is a beautifully convenient and central location to stay while visiting the well known historic homes in the region:
In addition Greene County possesses a rich history of its own. The countryside is full of treasures of history and heritage for the whole family to explore and experience. The town of Stanardsville itself is both a State and National Historic District. Stanardsville is one of the most historically significant locations in the Piedmont Region. Incorporated in 1794, it was once a stagecoach stop on the way to the Shenandoah Valley and beyond. Most of its buildings were constructed prior to 1900. Below is just a sampling of the historic buildings to see in Greene. For more information, check out the Greene County Historical Society and Museum in the old jailhouse.
 The Bickers-Whitlock House
This handsome terracotta-roofed house and out-buildings on the eastern side of Noon Whistle
Pottery (built 1930 as Stanardsville Motor Company) was built in 1906 by I.V. Bickers, who
was prominent in bringing services such as gas and water to the town of Stanardsville.
Evergreen Country House
Just past the library on Main Street, Evergreen was built by William Mills, a local jurist, on land he bought in 1840. It is now part of Evergreene Retirement Village.
Forest Hill Academy
Built by F. M. McMullen in 1867, it is located behind the Victorian Jarrell House on Madison Road. It was an early private school.
Gibbons House and Davis-Deane House
Located on the north side of Main Street, these brick Greek Revival townhouses date from the 1850s. Additions were added later to each house.
Gibbons Market
This fine example of commercial Greek Revival architecture located on the southwest corner of Main Street at Ford Avenue was built in 1861. The exterior is much the same as it was in the 19th century.
Gibson Chapel & Martha Bagby Battle House
(National Historic Sites)
Located at the Blue Ridge School in Dyke, the Chapel’s design was donated in 1924 by Ralph
Adams Cram, the nation’s foremost practitioner of the Gothic style. Cram was best know for
such monumental works as the West Point and Princeton University chapels. The spare but deft
work, executed in native fieldstone, was carried to completion in 1932 by local workmen and
students under the supervision of Charlottesville architect Stanislaw Makielski. Makielski
also designed the adjacent Tudor-style Martha Bagby Battle House, built in 1934 as the
headmaster’s residence. |
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 Grace Episcopal Church
The Carpenter Gothic structure facing Spotswood Trail at the center of
Stanardsville was constructed in 1901. The parish was founded by the Bishop of
Virginia as a missionary outpost to the mountain people. Part of a national social
and religious movement historians call the Third Great Awakening, the Episcopal
missionaries focused on literacy, health care, and religious worship. In 1926, at
the height of the missionary movement, there were six Episcopal places of worship
in Greene County, several school houses, and two health care clinics.
 Greene County Courthouse
(National Historic Site)
The Courthouse is situated centrally, opposite the Stanardsville
Methodist Church, and still houses Greene County’s trials and
other court cases. According to the Virginia Landmarks Register,
the Courthouse is a polished representative of an important group
of Roman Revival courthouses scattered throughout Virginia’s
Piedmont region. It was erected in 1838 and follows the standard
temple-form format with a properly executed Doric entablature.
The Courthouse was heavily damaged by fire in 1979, but the
exterior survived intact. The interior has since been restored.
 Old Greene County Jail
Built in 1838, the jail is located on Court Square in the center of
Stanardsville, next to the Courthouse. In Four Years with the Stone-Wall Brigade,
John Casler writes about one of the more famous
escapes from its confines. It is now the home of the Greene County
Historical Society Museum.
 Lafayette Inn
Built in 1840, this elegant inn and restaurant has also been
used as a bar, a lawyer’s office, and even a buggy and harness
shop in later years. The Lafayette also housed Greene County’s
first telephone exchange. The inn now owns the former Dicey’s
Cottage, which is said to have been built as slave quarters for the
inn, and manages the Eddins-Davis House, known as "The
Victorian", across the street which was built in 1900 and was
once a boarding house for teachers.
Miller House
Located across from the library, this Victorian House was built in 1897. It was named after local funeral director C.G. Miller who lived in the house for many years.
Mitchell House
This log-bodied house, built early in the 19th century, is one of the town's earliest structures. It can be found across from the toll house on Main Street, east of the stream called Stanardsville Run or Blue Run Creek.
Moyer House
This historic home was built in 1917 on the site of the home built by William Stanard, the man after whom Stanardsville was named.
Noon Whistle Pottery
Built in 1930, this building once housed the Stanardsville Motor Company, the first auto sales and service building in Stanardsville.
The Page-Jarrell House
This elegant Queen Anne Victorian set back from the road was home to County Clerk Z.K. Page and his wife Henrietta in the early 1900s. It is located on the west side of Madison Road.
Price Store
Now known as the IOOF Building, the Price Store was built in 1820. It once housed the local pharmacy and boasted the first hot air furnace in the area. It was here that the locals came to hear the area's first radio.
Pritchett House
Robert Pritchett an early County clerk built this house in 1848. The front of the house was added later.
Rosa Taylor House
John Sorrille built this house in 1815 to use the front room as his store. His sister Nancy Atkins, who was briefly the toll house keeper on Rockingham Toll Road, came into possession of the house in 1852. It sits on the western side of what is now Noon Whistle Pottery.
Shiloh Baptist Church
The original church is located at the end of Shiloh Road and was built in 1862, but the present
structure dates from 1907. Behind the church are two other buildings, the smaller of which
was formerly a segregated African-American high school (6th-8th grades). The larger building
was an elementary school also known as the Odd Fellows Building. Between these markers,
enclosed by a fence and decorated by four boxwoods is a simple marker: "Unknown dead of
Ewell’s Army." Richard S. Ewell (1817-1872) was a Confederate general renowned for his
irreverent language and fighting spirit.
Stanardsville Methodist Church
This church, just across from the Courthouse, was built in 1858 and played an important role
as a hospital during the Civil War. Townspeople nursed soldiers from both sides who were
brought to the church during the Battle of Stanardsville. The gallery, which still exists, was
once used by slaves who drove their masters to church.
The Old Toll House
The oldest house still standing in Greene County, it was built in 1815 by John Sorrille, who was believed to have been a book-keeper for President Madison at Montpelier. It was once used as a toll house for the turnpike that led through Stanardsville and over the mountains.
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