Sweet Briar House, also known as Locust Ridge, is a historic home located at Sweet Briar,

Amherst County, Virginia Amherst County is a county, located in the Piedmont region and near the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The county is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area, and its county seat is also named Amherst ...

. The original house was built about 1825, and was a

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style brick farmhouse with a hipped roof. The house was extensively remodeled in 1851 in the

Italian Villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas ...

-style. The remodeling added a two-level arcaded

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 ...

with a one-story verandah across the facade and two three-story towers of unequal height and form. Also on the property is a late-19th century latticed well house. The house now serves as the residence for the president of

Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a private women's college in Sweet Briar, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in memory of her deceased daughter, Daisy. The college formally opened its doors in 1906 and granted the B.A. deg ...

. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> It was added to 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 1970.

References

Houses in Amherst County, Virginia Houses completed in 1851 Federal architecture in Virginia Italianate architecture in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Amherst County, Virginia Houses completed in 1825 1851 establishments in Virginia {{AmherstCountyVA-NRHP-stub