Bellair, in

Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Char ...

, is a historic farm. The farm is significant for the architecture of its buildings and for its association with owners important in the political, religious, and economic life of the state. A 250-acre portion of the farm 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 1992. Martin Dawson, owner in 1819, was a co-founder of the Rivanna Navigation Company and eventually became the largest donor to the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

up to the time of his bequest. Its southern boundary is the

Hardware River The Hardware River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the James River in central Virginia in the United States. It is part of the watershed ...

. The main house on the property is a

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 building with dual chimneys dating from 1794 to 1817 period. Architect Marshall S. Wells designed and/or supervised some

Colonial Revival style The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the archi ...

additions in the 1930s and there was further addition of a

Palladian window Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

and more in the 1960s. an
''Accompanying three photos''
/ref> A smokehouse is one additional contributing building on the property.

References

Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia Houses in Charlottesville, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Albemarle County, Virginia {{AlbemarleCountyVA-NRHP-stub