Edge Hill (Shadwell, Virginia)

For other Virginia houses of this name, see Edge Hill (disambiguation).

Edge Hill, also known as Edgehill and Edgehill Farm, is a historic house located near Shadwell in Albemarle County, Virginia, United States.^[3]

Edge Hill
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Virginia Landmarks Register
Entrance to the estate
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Location	North of Shadwell on State Route 22, near Shadwell, Virginia
Coordinates	38°1′2″N 78°23′42″W
Area	96 acres (39 ha)
Built	c. 1799, 1828, 1916
Architectural style	Greek Revival, Federal
NRHP reference No.	82004537[1]
VLR No.	002-0026
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	February 10, 1983
Designated VLR	June 15, 1982[2]

Early history

William Randolph of Tuckahoe acquired 2400 acres as a land grant from King George II in 1735, and it was inherited by his son Thomas Mann Randolph, Sr. of Tuckahoe. In 1790, he gave it and his Varina plantation near Richmond to his son Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. as a wedding gift when the younger Randolph married Martha Jefferson, daughter of Virginia governor and U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.^[4]

The younger Randolphs came to prefer the cooler mountain air of Albemarle County, so they built a one-story, wood-frame structure on the property about 1799, but they preferred living at Monticello. Randolph Jr. acted as an overseer at Jefferson's plantation as well as ran this one, but also ran up^[4] and inherited great debt.^[5] The current two-story, brick main house dates from 1828, and was rebuilt in 1916, after a fire gutted the interior. Thomas Jefferson Randolph, one of Randolph Jr.'s sons who became Thomas Jefferson's favorite grandson and beneficiary of his papers as well as executor of his estate, acquired his debt-ridden father's estate (house, land and slaves) at an auction on January 2, 1826. About two years later, he hired William B. Phillips and Malcolm F. Crawford (local master mason and master carpenter, respectively) to build this house in the style of Monticello (which often can be viewed from it), the University of Virginia and other historic Charlottesville properties.^[1]

Edge Hill School for Girls

That original Edgehill structure remains on the property, having been rolled to the hilltop and used as a private academy run by Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph beginning in 1829 until about 1850 and as an academy for young ladies from 1867 until 1900, as well as used an office.^[4]

See also: Sarah N. Randolph § Educator

Later years

The property passed out of the Randolph family in 1902, following the death of Carolina Ramsay Randolph. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.^[1]

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
3. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (June 1982). "002-0026 Edgehill and Accompanying Rhoto". Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Historic Resources.
4. Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (June 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form and Accompanying photo: Edge Hill". Commonwealth of Virginia, Department of Historic Resources.
5. Lester, Malcolm (February 2000). "Randolph, Thomas Mann (1768-1828), member of Congress and governor of Virginia". American National Biography. American National Biography Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0300411. Retrieved 2021-05-08.

External links

• Journey through Hallowed Ground: Edgehill