Tusculum was a historic home located near

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

Amherst County 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. ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. It was a two-story

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

and

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 frame house built in two principal phases. The north section was built possibly as early as the 1750s, with the south section added about 1805. It sat on a brick and stone foundation and was covered in beaded weatherboard siding. The house was acquired by the

Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities Founded in 1889, the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities was the United States' first statewide historic preservation group. In 2003 the organization adopted the new name APVA Preservation Virginia to reflect a broader focus o ...

in 2003. an
''Accompanying two photos''
/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 2004. The house has been described as "one of the oldest and most architecturally significant dwellings in the Virginia Piedmont", and is said by one source to have been the birthplace of Senator William H. Crawford. Tusculum was once owned by

Elijah Fletcher Elijah Fletcher (July 28, 1789 – February 13, 1858) was a 19th-century teacher and businessman, who also served as mayor of Lynchburg, Virginia for two terms in the early 1830s, as well as on the city council. Early and family life Tonnie wa ...

, whose daughter, Indiana Fletcher Williams, was the founder 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 ...

; it was the childhood home of her mother, Maria Crawford. The college collaborated with the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities to purchase the house for preservation, and in 2006 it was carefully dismantled, and removed to a dairy barn on the college campus. Plans were announced, in 2008, to re-erect the house on land behind

Sweet Briar House Sweet Briar House, also known as Locust Ridge, is a historic home located at Sweet Briar, Amherst County, Virginia. The original house was built about 1825, and was a Federal style brick farmhouse with a hipped roof. The house was extensively ...

and turn it into a center for community history and outreach. However, the cost of renovation proved to be too great, and in 2013 it was decided to offer the home for sale, with stipulations as to the manner in which it could be restored. In 2014 the home was purchased by a local couple who announced plans to rebuild it at Forks of Buffalo, around eight miles from its original location in the vicinity of

Clifford Clifford may refer to: People *Clifford (name), an English given name and surname, includes a list of people with that name *William Kingdon Clifford *Baron Clifford *Baron Clifford of Chudleigh *Baron de Clifford *Clifford baronets *Clifford fami ...

. The Tusculum Institute at Sweet Briar College, dedicated to the discussion and preservation of local history and the support and teaching of historic preservation, takes its name from the house.

References

Houses in Amherst County, Virginia Houses completed in 1805 Georgian architecture in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Amherst County, Virginia 1805 establishments in Virginia {{AmherstCountyVA-NRHP-stub