Burgh Westra
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Burgh Westra | |
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Burgh Westra, May 2013 | |
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| Location | E of Gloucester off VA 3, near Gloucester, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 37°25′11″N 76°27′14″W / 37.41972°N 76.45389°WCoordinates: 37°25′11″N 76°27′14″W / 37.41972°N 76.45389°W |
| Area | 550 acres (220 ha) |
| Built | 1842 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 76002107[1] |
| VLR # | 036-0010 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 8, 1976 |
| Designated VLR | April 20, 1976[2] |
Burgh Westra is a historic home located near Gloucester, Gloucester County, Virginia. Built between 1842-1851 on 3,500 acres, the estate's original design is a two and a half story brick dwelling in the Gothic Revival style. In addition to the main house, the property contains an original dairy, a rebuilt carriage house, guest cottage, gazebo built upon original sketches of Dr Taliaferro, north and south gardens modeled on the original house designs, and a kitchen vegetable garden. Parts of the original fruit and nut orchards are located next to the estate and near the remains of a barn burned by raiding union troops during the Civil War. The extended property contains the original farm managers house and working and fallow fields along the estate's nearly 2-mile long lane. Burgh Westra's floor plan is based upon Design III in Cottage Residences, by Andrew Jackson Downing. The name "Burgh Westra" comes from the Scottish phrase for "Village of the West", to symbolizing the cottage's location on the North River, Virginia.
Burgh Westra's builder was Warner Throckmorton Taliaferro of Belleville Plantation on the North River for his son, Dr. Philip Taliaferro. Dr. Taliaferro discussed potential designs and a desire to build the estate on the eventual land tract while studying medicine in Scotland under William Wilde, father of Oscar Wilde, at the University of Edinburgh. During the Civil War, Dr. Taliaferro accompanied his step-brother, William B. Taliaferro, a general in the Confederate army, to serve with General Stonewall Jackson (1824–1863) in the Shenandoah Valley as an aide-de-camp.[3] Upon returning to Burgh Westra during the war, Dr. Taliaferro opened up his estate as a hospital for wounded soldiers. At least two unidentified confederate soldiers who died at Burgh Westra are buried at nearby Ware Episcopal Church.
The home continues to be owned by the original family and is suspected to be the oldest continual ownership of a house in Gloucester County, Virginia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]
Gallery
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Burgh Westra Water side
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Burgh Westra Dairy
References
- 1 2 National Park Service (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
- ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
- ↑ Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (March 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Burgh Westra" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying two photos
