Loretto is a historic home located at

Wytheville Wytheville is a town in, and the county seat of, Wythe County, in southwestern Virginia, United States. It is named after George Wythe, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, and mentor to Thomas Jefferson. Wytheville's populat ...

History

Loretto, just north of the historic downtown Wytheville, was originally built in 1852 for William Alexander Stuart, brother of General

J.E.B. Stuart James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart (February 6, 1833May 12, 1864) was a United States Army officer from Virginia who became a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War. He was known to his friends as "Jeb,” from the initials of ...

. Virginia Governor Henry Carter Stuart (1914-1918), William's son, may have been born in the house. Loretto's second owner,

Benjamin Rush Floyd Benjamin Rush Floyd (December 10, 1811 – February 15, 1860) was an American lawyer and politician. Floyd was born in Montgomery County, Virginia, His brother was John B. Floyd, Governor of Virginia. Floyd went to Georgetown University in Was ...

, was a state senator and son of another Virginia governor, John Floyd (1830-1834). As residents, Benjamin and his wife Nancy named the property after the Loreto Shrine in Italy. Loretto's size doubled in the late nineteenth century. Robert Crockett, Loretto's fourth owner, Victorianized the building with a third floor and slate

mansard roof A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...

. The Campbell family lived in the mansion from 1888 to 1992 and during that time added a grand spindlework stair railing of the Second-Empire style (1889), a Doric

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

on the front facade (1911), and a porte cohere and

pergola A pergola is most commonly an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained. The ...

on the side elevations of the home (1927).

Structure

The original section, built in 1852, is a two-story, single-pile, center-passage-plan dwelling that now forms the rear section of the house. The two-story brick front section was added in the 1880s, and has a

in the Second Empire style. The interior has

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style decorative details. A two-story front portico was added in 1911, a one-story rear brick ell was added in 1912, and a porte-cochère and

were added in 1927. Also on the property are the contributing log

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...

(1850s), a double-pen, v-notched outdoor kitchen (1852), and a frame building known as the office. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1994.

Uses today

The current owners lived in Loretto from 1991 to 2014 and have renovated it as an event venue and conference space. It can be reserved for corporate conferences, educational seminars, house tours, and indoor recitals. Total indoor capacity is 50.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Greek Revival houses in Virginia Second Empire architecture in Virginia Neoclassical architecture in Virginia Houses completed in 1852 Houses in Wythe County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Wythe County, Virginia 1852 establishments in Virginia Slave cabins and quarters in the United States Wytheville, Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia {{WytheCountyVA-NRHP-stub