Diagrammatic Map of the Eastern Side of Charlottesville, Virginia
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, an aspiring young couple in Albemarle County, Virginia were patrons for one of the best surviving examples of Jeffersonian domestic architecture. John Anthony Gardner Davis, an ambitious young lawyer, and his wife Mary Jane Terrell, Thomas Jeffersonís great niece, commissioned local builders to construct a classical brick farm house on the outskirts of Charlottesville. Both husband and wife were from prominent Virginia families. The builder had just completed the construction of Jeffersonís supreme architectural accomplishment, the Academical Village at the University of Virginia.
On the last day of 1825, John A. G. Davis bought 68.75 acres of a tract known as "The Farm." This had been part of the Nicholas Lewis plantation of 1020 acres, the first cleared tract west of the Rivanna River. This was part of the 19,000 acres patented to Lewisís grandfather, Nicholas Meriwether in 1735. On the site was the oldest house in Charlottesville dating from 1770.
Davis proceeded to retain William B. Phillips and Malcolm F. Crawford to build a house for his family in 1826. At the same time, these contractors were building a very similar house called Edgehill for Thomas Jefferson Randolph, Jeffersonís nephew. Previously, William B. Phillips was the most prolific and best quality mason at the Academical Village completing four of the pavilions and the rotunda.
Soon after completing his house, Davis received an appointment as law professor at the University of Virginia and moved to "The Lawn." There he was shot and killed at Pavilion X by a student during an uprising in 1840.
His widow sold the property in 1848 to Thomas L. Farish who built a small addition on the north side in 1850. At the end of the Civil War, Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer used the house as his headquarters for three days.
In 1909, the house and 37 acres were sold to George R. B. Michie. He was president of Peopleís National Bank and co-founder of the Michie Publishing Company. The property was further subdivided and a family compound of houses was created.
Michieís widow sold the property to a development corporation in 1948. They turned all but 1.3 acres into a middle income subdivision. The historic house and its lot was purchased by a nurse who converted it into a nursing home. After her death, it deteriorated considerably.
In December 1993, two architects purchased the lot and house to begin the difficult but rewarding process of restoration and preservation.
Diagrammatic Map of the Eastern Side of Charlottesville, Virginia
John A. G. Davis
Mary Jane Terrell Davis
Capt. Thomas L. Farish
George R. B. Michie Family