Spring Hill is a historic home located near Providence Forge, Virginia. It was built about 1765, and is a -story, five-bay, gable-roofed, timber-frame

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 dwelling. It has a center-hall plan. An addition was built in 1947. Also on the property is a contributing

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with t ...

. It is representative of a typical mid- to late-18th-century farmhouse in the Tidewater area of Virginia. an
''Accompanying photo''
/ref> The house was built by Richard Croshaw Graves before the American Revolution. He commanded the New Kent and Charles County militias during the American Revolution (1776–82). After the war, he returned to his plantation, which he called "Indian Fields," and had a new house constructed for his growing family between 1782 and 1784. He died there in 1798. The property passed to his son, Colonel Richard Graves. The Graves family retained possession of Indian Fields until 1863 when it was sold. Local legend has it that Thomas Jefferson spent the eve of his wedding to Martha Wayles Skelton at Indian Fields with his friend Richard C. Graves. The young lawyer was traveling from Williamsburg, where he was attending court sessions, to Martha's family home, "The Forest," located in Charles City County. He began his journey on Christmas Eve, and arrived at "The Forest" shortly after Christmas Day, 1771. He would have spent Christmas en route with the Graves family. Jefferson applied for a marriage license on December 31, 1771, and the couple was married on New Year's Day, 1772.Thomas Jefferson: Statesman of Science, by Silvio A. Bedini (Macmillan Publishing Co.: New York, 1990), pg. 56. 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 2002.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Houses completed in 1782 Houses in New Kent County, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in New Kent County, Virginia 1782 establishments in Virginia {{NewKentCountyVA-NRHP-stub