Northampton County continues to provide amazing sites for the NHPS "Lectures on the Lawn" Series.
Be sure to check this website's home page should adverse weather conditions occur on the dates of the program.
The
Northampton Historic Preservation Society held a “Lecture on the
Lawn at Prospect Hill” on Sunday, November 10th. Prospect
Hill was part of a 1200-acre plantation belonging to Colonel William
Kendall in the late 1600s and then a 675-acre plantation in the 1800’s.
Mr. John W. Leatherbury built Prospect Hill around 1824. He was a
wealthy prominent merchant whose trading interests extended to the West
Indies and his activities included smuggling.
The Northampton Historic Preservation Society offered a “Lecture on the Lawn at Chatham” on October 13th. Chatham, a stately Federal-style house located on Church Creek, is celebrating its 200th birthday. Surrounded by almost 300 acres of land protected in The Virginia Land Trust, it was originally part of a land patent granted in 1640 and has been the home of only five families. Built by Brigadier General Pitts in 1818, a prominent citizen of Northampton County, it was attached to an earlier structure that now serves as a kitchen.
The house features a Federal-style, barrel-vault brick porch with limestone steps built on the footprint of an earlier porch. The ruin of the Quarters Kitchen now shelters a kitchen garden that is enclosed by old fencing and boxwood. Restoration began by the Wehner family in 1979, and a winery completes the property which has been a working farm for four centuries.
Dr. David Scott is generously donating his research notes for this lecture. They can be found at: Chatham Lecture.
Pear Valley, located in Wilsonia Neck, is one of the most studied buildings in Virginia. In October, Dr. Bernie Herman, noted author and the George B. Tindall Professor of Southern Studies at University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill gave his unique perspective about its construction and the culture of the people who lived there. Recent dating methods indicate Pear Valley was built around 1740. The 20-by-16-foot structure is a one-room, open or hall-plan house with a loft that was eventually subdivided into two rooms. The descendants of the original owner lived in Pear Valley for almost 200 years. Pear Valley was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and became a National Historic Landmark in 2013. When designated as a National Historic Landmark it became one of only 2,596 landmarks in the entire U.S., 121 in Virginia, and two in Northampton County.
Dr. Bernie Herman’s books include Architecture and Rural Life in Central Delaware 1700-1900, The Stolen House, and Town House: Architecture and Material Life in the Early American City, 1760-1830 — each awarded the Abbott Lowell Cummings Award as the best book on North American vernacular architecture. Dr. Herman specializes in historical architecture and material culture. In the early part of his career, he studied many of the historic homes of The Eastern Shore.
Lebanon - Lecture on the Lawn - September 2018
NHPS received a warm welcome by the owner to the Northampton historical
home named "Lebanon". The oldest section of
the house was
built by the owner's great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Thomas
Nottingham,
circa 1787. The smaller section was added by her great-great
grandfather, Dr.
Thomas J. L. L. Nottingham in the mid 1800's, using salvaged lumber from
a shipwreck
off Cobb Island.
Johnsontown Tavern - Lecture on the Lawn - June 2018
The
lecture series opened with Johnsontown Tavern located
immediately south of Bridgetown. The owners and Dr. David Scott
presented the evolution of the tavern/house built by Johannes Johnson,
who purchased 35 acres just south of Hungars Church in 1787.
Lecture on the Lawn at Coventon - October 2017
Lecture on the Lawn at Selma - September 2017
Lecture on the Lawn at Valcluse - November 2014
Lecture on the Lawn at Winona - October 2014
Lecture on the Lawn at Old Castle - 2012
Lecture on the Lawn at Eyreville - 2012
Lecture on the Lawn at Salt Grove - 2012
Northampton Historic Preservation Society
P.O. Box 501
Eastville, VA 23347
email: nhps100@gmail.com