Vine Forest, Forest Tavern
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Forest Oaks (Vine Forest, Forest Tavern)
1806, 1812; 1916, Curtis Walton. U.S. 11, 2.3 miles southwest of Natural Bridge
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(Photograph by D Hughes)
The oldest part of this house, the side-hall, Federal-style section on the north, served as Matthew Houston's store and residence. He was responsible for the 1812 additions, which more than doubled the building's size, turning it into a double-pile house with a two-story central hall covered by an arched ceiling. When Cleveland, Ohio, architect Walton purchased the forty-five-acre property, he transformed the building into a mansion reminiscent of an English Georgian country house. He added a two-story, four-bay wing to the original brick structure, two frame sections to each end, a semioctagonal porch, dormers, and the heavy, Greek-key moldings to all the exterior openings. The interior was transformed as well with paneled wainscoting, heavy cornices, and grand mantels all in Colonial Revival style. The house briefly served as a tavern in the 1930s, but is again a private residence.
Writing Credits
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Data
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Location: Natural Bridge Station, VirginiaRegional Overviews:Architect:Materials:
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Citation
Anne Carter Lee, "Forest Oaks (Vine Forest, Forest Tavern)", [Natural Bridge Station, Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-02-RB35.
Print Source
Buildings of Virginia: Valley, Piedmont, Southside, and Southwest, Anne Carter Lee and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, 135-135.
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