Tusculum was a historic home located near Amherst in Amherst County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

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. It was a two-story Georgian and Federal 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 Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

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 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 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 William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He later ran for U.S. president in the 1824 United States presidential electi ...

. Tusculum was once owned by Elijah Fletcher, whose daughter, Indiana Fletcher Williams, was the founder of

Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's liberal arts college in Sweet Briar, Amherst County, Virginia, Amherst County, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in ...

; 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 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. 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