Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia)

Bloomsbury Farm
Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia)
Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia) is located in Northern Virginia
Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia)
Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia) is located in Virginia
Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia)
Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia) is located in the United States
Bloomsbury Farm (Spotsylvania County, Virginia)
Location9736 Courthouse Rd.,
Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia
Coordinates38°14′7″N 77°33′58″W / 38.23528°N 77.56611°W / 38.23528; -77.56611
Area1.9 acres (0.77 ha)
Built1785–1790
Architectural stylePostmedieval English
NRHP reference No.00000479[1]
VLR No.088-0001
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 8, 2000
Designated VLRSeptember 15, 1999[2]
Removed from NRHPFebruary 7, 2017
Delisted VLRSeptember 15, 2016

Bloomsbury Farm (also known as Harris Farm) was an 18th-century timbered framed house, one of the oldest privately owned residences in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. The house was originally built by the Robinson family sometime between 1785 and 1790.[3] It was architecturally significant for its eighteenth-century construction methods and decorative elements. The surrounding location is also significant as the site of the last engagement between Confederate and Union forces in the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse on May 19, 1864.[1] Bloomsbury Farm was added to the National Register of Historic Places in May 2000. The house was demolished in December 2014 by Leonard Atkins, a nearby resident who purchased the property in November 2014 ostensibly to restore it. Atkins cited the building's supposedly poor condition and public safety as the reasons for the abrupt demolition, and he planned to replace the historic house with a new one commensurate in style and value with the modern houses in the surrounding development in which he lives.[4] The farm was removed from the National Register in 2017.[5]

  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Bloomsbury Farm" (PDF). National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-27. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  4. ^ Branscome, Jeff (24 December 2014). "Historic Spotsylvania farm house demolished". The Free Lance-Star. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  5. ^ National Park Service (February 17, 2017), Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 2/6/2017 through 2/10/2017, archived from the original on March 8, 2017, retrieved March 8, 2017.