History

Nineteenth Century Watercolor of Otterburn House,

Courtesy Bedford City/County Library.

From the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, prepared in 2000 by Leslie Giles, Architectural Historian, Lexington, Virginia:

Summary and Applicable Criteria

Otterburn, located in Bedford County, Virginia, was initially completed in 1828 for Benjamin A. and Sally Camm Donald.  Following a destructive 1841 fire, the Donalds rebuilt Otterburn within the shell of the original structure, completing the reconstruction by 1843.  Benjamin Andrew Donald, a plantation and gristmill owner with extensive real estate and personal property holdings, was also politically and socially one of the county's most prominent citizens during his lifetime.  For over forty years, Donald served Bedford County in numerous appointed and elected leadership positions, most notably those related to his service as a county justice beginning in 1832.  The county's first elected Presiding Justice, Donald held that position for three consecutive four-year terms (1852-1864).  For its historic association with Benjamin A. Donald, Otterburn is eligible for the National Register under Criterion B in the area of Government/Law/Politics at the local level of significance.

In addition, Otterburn is eligible under Criterion C in the area of Architecture at the state level of significance as one of the Commonwealth's chief domestic examples of antebellum architecture illustrating the transition from the Early Classical Revival or Jeffersonian style to the Greek Revival style.  Otterburn is an architecturally refined dwelling of unusual form for the period and region, and though subjected to changes over the years, nontheless retains good integrity.  In plan, Otterburn recalls the Palladian-influenced tripartite form employed for some of Virginia's finest houses during the eighteenth century.  In elevation, the Jeffersonian influence is evident in the adoption of features such as the piano nobile that reduce the apparent size of the house, and in the use of triple-hung sash.  The house's exterior and interior feature architectural details derived from pattern books available during the first half of the nineteenth century.  While the name of the building's designer has not come to light, presumably its British-educated owner had much to do with the planning and architectural detailing of the house in both phases of its construction.  An intriguing watercolored pen-and-ink presentation drawing of the house's front elevation, entitled "House of B. A. Donald, Bedford, Va.," implies the involvement of an architect or master builder in the 1841-1843 reconstruction of the house.  Otterburn is one of Bedford County's most distinctive rural dwellings of the antebellum period, and remained the seat of the Donald estate for several years after Benjamin's death in 1871.

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank the following individuals for their assistance with research or for reviewing the nomination report:  property owners [2001] Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Guy Hopkins; Robin Reynolds; staff of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources; staff and volunteers of the Bedford City/County Museum; Thomas Hehman, Director, and Steve Preston, Assistant Director, Bedford Public Library System; architectural historians Anne Carter Lee, Al Chambers, and Dan Pezzoni; Clara Lambeth, Bedford Historical Society; staff of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, Bedford County; staff of the Virginia Room, Roanoke Public Library; and staff of Special Collections of the Library of Virginia and of Leyburn Library, Washington & Lee University.

Historic background text from National Register Registration

"That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by."      Ecclesiastes 3.15.