Belle Isle is a historic

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

located near

Lancaster Lancaster may refer to: Lands and titles *The County Palatine of Lancaster, a synonym for Lancashire *Duchy of Lancaster, one of only two British royal duchies *Duke of Lancaster *Earl of Lancaster *House of Lancaster, a British royal dynasty ...

Lancaster County, Virginia Lancaster County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population sits at 10,919. Its county seat is Lancaster. Located on the Northern Neck near the mouth of the Rappahanno ...

. A structure was built on the site before 1759 by William Bertand, who died that year and whose father John Betrand had emigrated to Virginia as a Huguenot refugee and patented the land in 1692. The will provided the two storey house would be inherited by his grandson Thomas Bertrand Griffin. Members of the Griffin family then sold it circa 1786 to Rawleigh William Downman, who remodeled the parlor around 1790 and probably added two one-story dependencies on either side of the main house. Downman's descendants continued to hold the property for more than a century. In 1918 it was bought by the Somers family, whose members began modernization. Part of this (completed by 1922) involved removing the original interior woodwork, whose quality was recognized and installed in the

Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana in the United States. The museum and estate were the home of Henry Francis du Pont ...

. In 1940, the property was acquired by owners who sought to restore its historical authenticity and commissioned Thomas Waterman to oversee the restoration, including of modern replica of the original paneling, which was installed in 1941. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> The two-story, three-bay, brick central section has one-story flanking wings. The Colonial style dwelling has a hipped roof pierced by two tall interior end chimneys, and surrounded at its base by the original modillion cornice. Also on the property are two original one-story brick dependencies set perpendicular to the facade of the house. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1987. In 1993, Belle Isle State Park was created, which does not include the house, but most of the original grounds.

References

External links

Belle Isle, State Route 683, Somers, Lancaster County, VA
24 photos, 18 measured drawings, and 2 data pages at

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

Historic American Buildings Survey in Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Colonial architecture in Virginia Houses completed in 1759 Houses in Lancaster County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Lancaster County, Virginia 1759 establishments in the Colony of Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia {{LancasterCountyVA-NRHP-stub