Barboursville

Until it burned on Christmas Day, 1884, James Barbour's home at Barboursville stood essentially as completed ca. 1822 from designs supplied by Barbour's friend Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's drawings called for a dwelling with a recessed portico on the north front and a three-part bay sheltered by a portico on the south front, with dome above -- a scheme resembling Jefferson's Monticello. The dome, however, was not built. Even in its ruinous state, the house presents a romantic image of the Jeffersonian ideal, a compact but architecturally sophisticated classical villa in a carefully contrived landscape setting. The great grassy oval in front of the house was originally a racetrack. James Barbour (1775-1842), a statesman and diplomat, held many public offices, including governor of Virginia, secretary of war, and minister to Great Britain. The stabilized ruins are now the centerpiece of one of Virginia's first large-scale wineries.