Longwood House is a historic home located at

Farmville ''FarmVille'' is a series of agriculture-simulation social network game developed and published by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to ''Happy Farm'' and ''Farm Town''. Its gameplay involves various aspects of farmland management, such as plowing l ...

Prince Edward County, Virginia Prince Edward County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,849. Its county seat is Farmville. History Formation and county seats Prince Edward County was formed in the Virginia Colony in ...

, and functions as the home of the president of

Longwood University Longwood University is a public university in Farmville, Virginia. Founded in 1839, it is the third-oldest public university in Virginia and one of the hundred oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. Previously a college, Lo ...

. It is a -story, three bay, frame dwelling with a gable roof. It features

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 woodwork and

Doric order The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

porch. Longwood House has a central passage, double-pile plan. It has a two-story wing added about 1839, and a second wing added in the 1920s, when the property was purchased by

. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> The house is located next to the university golf course, and since 2006, athletic fields used by the

Longwood Lancers The Longwood Lancers are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Longwood University, located in Farmville, Virginia. The University's 14 men’s and women’s teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) D ...

History

The site of the home was originally owned by Scottish immigrant Peter Johnston, having purchased it in 1765. The property was later sold to

Abraham B. Venable Abraham Bedford Venable (November 20, 1758December 26, 1811) was a Virginia lawyer, planter and politician who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and briefly as U.S. Senator, as well as in the Virginia House of Delegates. Early and fam ...

in 1811; following his death shortly thereafter in the

Richmond Theatre fire The Richmond Theatre fire occurred in Richmond, Virginia, United States, on Thursday, December 26, 1811. It devastated the Richmond Theatre, located on the north side of Broad Street between what is now Twelfth and College Streets. The fire kille ...

, it was inherited by a relative, Samuel. The current house was built about 1815, and enlarged and remodeled about 1839. The site was the birthplace of two well-known

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

officers: Johnston's grandson

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American career army officer, serving with distinction in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia secede ...

in 1807, and Samuel Venable's grandson, Charles S. Venable, in 1827. Longwood House was purchased by what was then the State Teachers College at Farmville in 1929. Twenty years later, the school renamed itself Longwood College after the house; the school then changed its name to Longwood University in 2002. It has been used as the home of the university president since 1969. 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 1984.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Greek Revival houses in Virginia Houses completed in 1815 Houses in Prince Edward County, Virginia Joseph E. Johnston Longwood University National Register of Historic Places in Prince Edward County, Virginia {{PrinceEdwardCountyVA-NRHP-stub