Castle Hill | estate (manor / mansion land), plantation, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, Federal style (architecture), 1760s construction, Colonial (architecture)

 house, estate (manor / mansion land), plantation, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places, interesting place, Federal style (architecture), 1760s construction, Colonial (architecture)

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Historic house and plantation listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

Built: 1764
Expanded: c. 1824 (second residence, attached to the south end of the original structure); 1844 (columned conservatories added to either end of the first addition)
Architectural style: Colonial; Federal (additions)
Areas of significance: Architecture; Landscape Architecture; Military; Literature; Philosophy; Social History; Exploration/Settlement
Outbuildings:
Also known as: guest cottage; two carriages houses; tack room; stable; dairy; servants' quarters; detached kitchen; spring house; carding house; two smokehouses; carpenter's shop; office/storage building; numerous other modern agricultural buildings.
Date added to NRHP: 2/23/1972
Other designations: Virginia Landmarks Register
Notes: The earliest portion of this two-part house is a traditional Colonial Virginia frame dwelling built in 1764 by Dr. Thomas Walker, a colonial leader and explorer of the west. It was here, in 1781, that Walker's wife delayed the British Colonel Banastre Tarleton to give the patriot Jack Jouett time to warn Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia legislators of Tarleton's plan to capture them. The stately brick portion of the house, an example of Jeffersonian Classicism by master builder John M. Perry, was erected in 1823-24 for William Cabell Rives, minister to France, U.S. Senator, and Confederate congressman. Columned conservatories were added in 1844 by William B. Phillips. Rives's granddaughter Amelie, wife of the Russian painter Prince Pierre Troubetzkoy, was a novelist and playwright. She and her husband made Castle Hill their home in the early decades of the 20th century. Among its other distinguished characteristics, Castle Hill is also noted for its extensive gardens and landscaped grounds.