Frascati is an early 19th-century

Federal-style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

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 ...

near

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

in Orange 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 ...

. Frascati was the residence of Philip P. Barbour,

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States An associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States is a Justice (title), justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, other than the chief justice of the United States. The number of associate justices is eight, as set by the J ...

and

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

History

Frascati was built between 1821 and 1823 for Philip P. Barbour,

and

. Barbour's father,

Thomas Barbour Thomas Barbour (August 19, 1884 – January 8, 1946) was an American herpetologist. He was the first president of the Dexter School in 1926. From 1927 until 1946, he was director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) founded in 1 ...

arrived in Orange County as a young man from

Culpeper County Culpeper County is a county located along the borderlands of the northern and central region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 52,552. Its county seat and only incorporated community is C ...

. In 1806, Thomas Barbour and his wife, Mary, sold their home tract of to their son, Philip. Barbour entered into his "Articles of Agreement" with master builder John M. Perry on 7 November 1821. Barbour was familiar with Perry's capabilities through his work at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

and was attracted to Somerset, the home of his neighbor, Thomas Macon. Like Somerset, Frascati was influenced by the more conventional, central hall Federal house style. This conventional format contrasted with the tastes of Barbour's brother, Senator

James Barbour James C. Barbour (June 10, 1775 – June 7, 1842) was an American politician, planter, and lawyer. He served as a delegate from Orange County, Virginia, in the Virginia General Assembly and as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates. He was t ...

of Barboursville. Barboursville was designed by

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

in 1822 and displayed Jefferson's mixing of French and

Palladian 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 ...

forms similar to that at

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

. Frascati was Barbour's home until his death in 1841. Barbour's wife sold the estate in 1848 to Captain James Magruder, another local builder who had worked under Jefferson on the University of Virginia. Frascati was then long the home of Mrs. William H. Lyne, followed by Mr. A. D. Irving, a distant relation to

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...

. The residence is now owned by the Barrow family, who have preserved its farm setting. Frascati was added to the

Virginia Landmarks Register The Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) is a list of historic properties in the Commonwealth of Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atla ...

on 16 September 1980 and 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 ...

on 28 June 1982.

Architecture

Frascati is one of the

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

's best-documented 19th-century dwellings. The original building contract is preserved in the collections of the

Virginia Historical Society The Virginia Museum of History and Culture founded in 1831 as the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a major repository, research, and teaching center for Virginia history. It is a private, ...

and called for "exterior walls of the whole house to be faced with rubber stretchers well burned..." with the brickwork also "to be equal to any... at the

." It was designed by John M. Perry of nearby

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

, Virginia. Perry was one of the master builders employed by

both at

and the

. Frascati's Tuscan

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

and classical detailing are Jeffersonian architectural characteristics. The 57' x 39' structure is executed in very even

Flemish-bond Flemish bond is a pattern of brickwork that is a common feature in Georgian architecture. The pattern features bricks laid lengthwise (''stretchers'') alternating with bricks laid with their shorter ends exposed (''headers'') within the same cours ...

brick with tooled penciled joints. Frascati's shallow

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...

covers the two-story, double-pile residence. Frascati's main entrance has paneled double doors set within a frame containing a large semicircular transom and complementing sidelights all encircled with elaborately patterned wooden

tracery Tracery is an architectural device by which windows (or screens, panels, and vaults) are divided into sections of various proportions by stone ''bars'' or ''ribs'' of moulding. Most commonly, it refers to the stonework elements that support th ...

. The frame consists of symmetrical

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

s with paneled corner blocks. The main entrance is sheltered by a

tetrastyle A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cultu ...

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

ed Tuscan

on a brick

podium A podium (: podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of a ...

. Frascati's Tuscan portico has

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

ed columns, a full

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, and a pediment with a semicircular

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

in the tympanum. Fenestration throughout Frascati consists of six-over-six sash windows set in wooden architraves and flanked by original

louver A louver (American English) or louvre (Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, see spelling differences) is a window blind or window shutter, shutter with horizontal wikt:slat, slats that are angle ...

ed shutters. Paired interior-end

chimney A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typical ...

s are located on Frascati's north and south elevations. A later semi-exterior chimney is found on the home's rear elevation. The roof is covered with standing-seam

sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Thicknesses can vary significantly; extremely thin sheets are considered foil (metal), foil or Metal leaf, leaf, and pieces thicker than 6 mm (0.25 ...

. Frascati's central hall plan and interior are discussed at some length in the original specifications:

The house to have a passage through the middle of it ten feet wide in the clear; and to have a cross partition wall so as to divide the floors of each story into four rooms besides the passage; both the passage walls and cross walls to go from the foundation to the top to be of brick and of the same thickness in the several stories as in the outer walls; the whole house bapement story and all, to be well plaistered with a due preportion of plaister of Paris.... The drawing room and passage each to have a handsome cornice of plaister, and each a handsome center ornament of plaister in the ceiling; the general style of all the wood work to be like Thomas Macon's dwelling house... there are to be two staircases one private from the dining room and chamber, with a closet under it; the other an elegant ornamental one out of the passage....

The

parlor A parlour (or parlor) is a reception room or public space. In medieval Christian Europe, the "outer parlour" was the room where the monks or nuns conducted business with those outside the monastery and the "inner parlour" was used for necessary ...

exhibits plasterwork ceiling

medallion A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

s and

s, the latter copied from a design in

Asher Benjamin Asher Benjamin (June 15, 1773July 26, 1845) was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal architecture and the later Greek Revival architecture. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and ...

's ''American Builder's Companion'' (1806). Surviving on the Frascati estate grounds are the original kitchen outbuilding and remnants of the extensive original gardens.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Barbour family residences Houses in Orange County, Virginia Houses completed in 1823 Federal architecture in Virginia Georgian architecture in Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia Palladian Revival architecture in Virginia Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia