Edgemont

From Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

Edgemont, a historic house located in Albemarle County, Virginia, was built around 1796 and may have been designed by Thomas Jefferson.

James Powell Cocke, the owner of Edgemont at the time that it was built, acquired the land from Robert Nelson sometime between 1770 and 1782.^[1] The house is a combination of French and Palladian architectural styles.^[2] Although there is no definitive evidence to prove that Jefferson designed the building, letters and drawings of his, as well as similarities to other Jefferson architectural designs, have led many architectural historians to the conclusion that the design is probably Jefferson’s.^[3]

In 1936, the house was 'discovered' by architect Milton Grigg in a state of disrepair. Grigg restored the property in 1938 for its owner, Dr. Graham Clark, and again in 1946, after the house was purchased by William Snead.^[4] In addition to historic restorations, Grigg designed two new porticoes to match the existing south and east porticoes that were part of the original construction.^[5] Grigg also restored the terraced gardens based on historic and archaeological evidence.^[6]

Footnotes

1. ↑ The Virginia Department of Historic Resources http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Albemarle/002-0087_Edgemont_1980_Final_Nomination.pdf.
2. ↑ Calder Loth, ed. The Virginia Landmarks Register fourth edition (Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, 1999), 12.
3. ↑ K. Edward Lay, The Architecture of Jefferson Country: Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000), 90, 138-139.
4. ↑ Ibid, 139.
5. ↑ Ibid.
6. ↑ The Virginia Department of Historic Resources.