Shack Mountain

Shack Mountain
Location 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northwest of Charlottesville near the junction of VA 657 and VA 743, near Charlottesville, Virginia
Coordinates 38°5′31.95″N 78°30′04.38″W / 38.0922083°N 78.5012167°W / 38.0922083; -78.5012167Coordinates: 38°5′31.95″N 78°30′04.38″W / 38.0922083°N 78.5012167°W / 38.0922083; -78.5012167
Area 100.9 acres (0.408 km2)[1]
Built 1935
Architect Fiske Kimball
Architectural style Colonial Revival
NRHP Reference # 76002090
VLR # 002-0200
Significant dates
Added to NRHP September 1, 1976[2]
Designated NHL October 5, 1992[3]
Designated VLR June 15, 1976[4]

Shack Mountain is a house near Charlottesville, Virginia, that is a tribute to Thomas Jefferson's architectural style. It was designed by and for Fiske Kimball (1881-1955), an architectural historian who was the founder of the University of Virginia School of Architecture, and who is credited with restoring respect for Jefferson's architectural ability. The house derives its name from the Shackelford family, who owned and settled the property in the 18th century.[5][6]

History

Intended as a retirement home for Kimball, the house is based on Jefferson's design for Farmington. The house was built in 1935-36. Like Jefferson at Monticello, Kimball found a site with a commanding view of the wooded hills around Charlottesville. Kimball's intended name for the house was Tusculum, but the name "Shack Mountain," for earlier owners of the property, remained. Kimball and his wife Marie used the house as a retreat, mainly at Christmas and for two weeks in June, until they both died in 1955. They willed the house to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Kimball had been director. The museum sold the house to W. Bedford Moore III, a professor of engineering at the University of Virginia.[7][8]

Description

The one-story, T-shaped house features a projecting octagonal space to either side at the front. Fronting the elongated side of the octagon is a Tuscan portico with paired stucco columns. Windows are mostly triple-hung sashes. The roof is a shallow standing-seam metal hipped structure that defers to the portico. Exterior balustrades are in the Chinese Chippendale pattern. Entry is through the portico, with the front door leading into a shallow round vestibule projecting into the half-octagonal parlor to the left side with a curved door, an adaptation of Pavilion IX at the University of Virginia. A corresponding alcove leads to the cross corridor, while another door leads to the dining room which occupies the right side of the front octagonal volume. A wing to the rear contains kitchens and bedrooms, none of which are of unusual design. A basement houses utility spaces.[7]

Shack Mountain was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 1, 1976, and was declared a National Historic Landmark on October 5, 1992.[1][3][9] The house is located about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-northwest of Charlottesville.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Carolyn Pitts (April 24, 1992). "National Historic Landmark Nomination: Shack Mountain" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 12 photos, exterior and interior, from 1990 (32 KB)
  2. ↑ National Park Service (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  3. 1 2 "Shack Mountain". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  4. ↑ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
  5. ↑ Loth, Calder (1999). The Virginia Landmarks Register. Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia.
  6. ↑ Woods, Edgar (1901). Albemarle County in Virginia: Giving Some Account of What It Was by Nature, of What It was Made by Man, and of Some of the Men who Made It. Charlottesville: The Michie Company.
  7. 1 2 Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (June 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form: Shack Mountain" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 21 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Fleming v. Moore 275 S.E.2d 632 (Va. 1981)
  9. ↑ Staff, Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (June 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Shack Mountain" (pdf). National Park Service.
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