Vine Forest

Virginia, United States

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Phone: +1 540-291-1005

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Heritage registerNational Register of Historic Places↗

Vine Forest, located near Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County, Virginia, is a historic house that evolved through multiple architectural transformations across two centuries. Originally built in 1806 by Matthew Houston, cousin of Sam Houston, the Federal-style structure initially served as store, tavern, and family residence on a plantation. In 1812, Houston expanded the building with Colonial Revival additions featuring a distinctive two-story center hall topped by a full arched ceiling inspired by the nearby Natural Bridge. The property underwent its most dramatic transformation after 1916, when Ohio architect Curtis Walton and his aunt Lilly purchased it and remodeled the structure into an English country manor, retaining the center hall but replacing its arched ceiling with ornamental oak woodwork and arches salvaged from a British estate. Two-story frame wings and a rear verandah were added during this period. The Waltons also constructed three Greek Revival cottages on the grounds, including the larger Vine Cottage. Largely spared from Civil War destruction, the house remained substantially unchanged until the early twentieth-century renovations. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and designated a Virginia Historic Landmark.

Movement

Colonial Revival architecture Federal architecture

Type: building
Heritage: National Register of Historic Places listed place, Virginia Historic Landmark
Place: Virginia, United States

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Location

37.62500, -79.57860