Wirtland is a historic house in Westmoreland County, Virginia, United States, near the community of Oak Grove. Built in 1850 by William Wirt, Jr., the son of former U.S. Attorney General William Wirt, it has been recognized as a high-quality example of a rural

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

house of the period.Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission staff.
National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Wirtland
'. National Park Service, December 1976. Accessed 2009-06-24. Its historic status was recognized in 1979, when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Wirtland is a two-story brick house surrounded by an attached

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

landscaped in the Victorian style. Constructed in the shape of a cross, the house is built around a central chimney, and multiple porches surround the

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

-covered exterior. The interior includes ornate plasterwork, marble mantels, and a spectacular 2 story spiral staircase. The Gothic theme is carried through many aspects of the ornamentation of the interior. After Wirt's death in 1899, the house was owned by his son and daughter-in-law, William Dabney Wirt and Garnett Pendleton Wirt, who ran a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for women in the house until its sale in 1918. After their ownership, Wirtland was purchased by Robert Edward Lee Lewis, a descendant of Martha Washington through her granddaughter, Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis. In 1924, they sold the house to their friend, author and playwright Paul Kester, who had previously owned Woodlawn Plantation and Gunston Hall. He sold the house in 1927, to Edward M. L'Engle, the grandson of the builder, Dr. William Wirt, through his eldest daughter, Fannie Wirt, who had grown up in the house. L'Engle lived in Florida but allowed his uncle, William Wirt, to spend his final years there, dying in 1930. After that, L'Engle's cousin, Augusta Dabney Wirt Nalle, and her husband lived at Wirtland. Augusta was the daughter of Daniel Payne Mastin Wirt, who had also grown up in the house. In 1940, Burton and Harriet Slocum purchased the home and oversaw extensive restoration in the 1940s and 1950s. Today, the house is considered one of Virginia's most significant houses of its style, and its park, which is also listed on the Register, is one of the few remaining examples of Victorian landscaping. Since 1967, the property has been owned by Ingleside Plantation Nurseries and is the home of the company president. Next door is

Roxbury Roxbury may refer to: Places ;Canada * Roxbury, Nova Scotia * Roxbury, Prince Edward Island ;United States * Roxbury, Connecticut * Roxbury, Kansas * Roxbury, Maine * Roxbury, Boston, a municipality that was later integrated into the city of Bosto ...

, a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

house built by another son of Attorney General Wirt in the 1860s;.Roxbury
Ingleside Vineyards. Accessed 2009-06-24. This home is owned by

Ingleside Plantation Vineyards Ingleside may refer to: Australia *Ingleside, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia *Ingleside, Queensland, a neighbourhood in City of Gold Coast Canada * Ingleside, Ontario, a town in Ontario, Canada United States * Ingleside, ...

, one of the oldest vineyards in the state. Like Wirtland, Roxbury is listed on the National Register,.

References

External links

Ingleside Vineyards
{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses in Westmoreland County, Virginia Gardens in Virginia Landscape design history of the United States Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Houses completed in 1850 Gothic Revival architecture in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Westmoreland County, Virginia