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Sears House (Staunton, Virginia)

Coordinates: 38°8′45″N 79°4′20″W / 38.14583°N 79.07222°W / 38.14583; -79.07222
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Sears House
Northern side of the house
Sears House (Staunton, Virginia) is located in Virginia
Sears House (Staunton, Virginia)
Sears House (Staunton, Virginia) is located in the United States
Sears House (Staunton, Virginia)
LocationSears Hill Rd. in Woodrow Wilson City Park, Staunton, Virginia
Coordinates38°8′45″N 79°4′20″W / 38.14583°N 79.07222°W / 38.14583; -79.07222
Area9.9 acres (4.0 ha)
Builtc. 1860 (1860)
NRHP reference No.72001530[1]
VLR No.132-0013
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 23, 1972
Designated VLRNovember 16, 1971[2]
Barnas Sears

Sears House is a historic home located at Staunton, Virginia. It was built about 1860, and is a 1+12-story, frame dwelling representative of a small "bracketed cottage" popularized by Andrew Jackson Downing. It is sheathed with board-and-batten and is covered with a cross-gable roof. It features long, shallow-scrolled roof brackets, a three-bay arcaded front porch, and a three-story octagonal-ended tower covered by a shallow hipped roof with dentiled cornice. It was the home of Dr. Barnas Sears (1802-1880), a prominent educator, who owned and occupied the house from 1867 until his death.[3]

The house was built by Col. Robert Lewis Madison, MD, and designed by his wife, Helen Banister Madison. Their son, Robert Lee Madison, founder and former president of Western Carolina University, in Cullowhee, North Carolina, was born there on February 17, 1867, shortly before the house was sold to Sears for $4,000.[4]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. ^ Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission Staff (August 1971). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Sears House" (PDF). Virginia Department of Historic Resources. and Accompanying photo
  4. ^ Madison, Robert L. (July 17, 1938). "Experiences Of A Pedagogue In The Carolina Highlands (installment 13 of 17)". The Asheville Citizen-Times, Asheville, North Carolina.
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