Cuckoo (Mineral, Virginia)
Encyclopedia
Cuckoo is a Federal style
house in the small community of Cuckoo, Virginia
near Mineral, Virginia
, built in 1819 for Henry Pendleton. Cuckoo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
on August 19, 1994. The house is prominently sited on U.S. Route 33
, which curves around the house. Cuckoo's interior retains Federal detailing alongside Colonial Revival elements from the early 20th century. The house is notable for its design, prominence and its association with the Pendleton family of doctors. The house was named for the Cuckoo Tavern, which stood nearby from 1788. It has been in the Pendleton family since its construction.
. The complex includes a number of outbuildings, including two separate doctor's office buildings, a garage, barn, smokehouse, and the Pendleton family cemetery.
for use as Pendleton's medical office. The large doctor's office was built circa 1888 for Dr. Eugene Pendleton on the grounds of his house, named Linwood, in the village of Cuckoo. It was expanded to accommodate his son's practice about 1908, and was moved to Cuckoo in 1910 when Eugene moved there. The office was moved again in 1972 when the highway was widened, and was used as a medical office by Dr. Eugene Barbour Pendleton until 1979. A smokehouse was built in the late 19th century, and a barn in the early 20th century. An octagonal wood wellhouse, built in the late 19th or early 20th century, stands close to the main house. A garage was built in the 1930s.
on August 19, 1994. The house sustained damage in the 2011 Virginia earthquake
, with the collapse of its tall chimneys.
Federal architecture
Federal-style architecture is the name for the classicizing architecture built in the United States between c. 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815. This style shares its name with its era, the Federal Period. The name Federal style is also used in association with furniture design...
house in the small community of Cuckoo, Virginia
Cuckoo, Virginia
Cuckoo is a small unincorporated community in Louisa County, Virginia, United States. It is located in about 8 miles southeast of Louisa, roughly between Charlottesville and Richmond. The Cuckoo Tavern stood nearby, which in 1781 was the beginning of Jack Jouett's ride to warn the Colonists of the...
near Mineral, Virginia
Mineral, Virginia
Mineral is a town in Louisa County, Virginia, United States. The population was 424 at the 2000 census.-History:Mineral was originally known as Tolersville, but adopted its current name when it incorporated in 1902 due to the mining industry that supported the community...
, built in 1819 for Henry Pendleton. Cuckoo was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on August 19, 1994. The house is prominently sited on U.S. Route 33
U.S. Route 33
U.S. Route 33 is a United States federal highway that runs northwest-southeast for 709 miles from northern Indiana to Richmond, Virginia, passing through Ohio and West Virginia en route. Although most odd-numbered U.S...
, which curves around the house. Cuckoo's interior retains Federal detailing alongside Colonial Revival elements from the early 20th century. The house is notable for its design, prominence and its association with the Pendleton family of doctors. The house was named for the Cuckoo Tavern, which stood nearby from 1788. It has been in the Pendleton family since its construction.
History
The initial construction featured a two-story front section with a one-story extension to the rear, housing the dining room and the winter kitchen. Between 1839 and 1907 the house was owned by Dr. Philip Barbour Pendleton, who added a second floor to the rear wing and extended the main roof to cover the new row of rooms across the back of the house. A later generation of Pendletons remodeled the house in the Colonial Revival style after 1910, adding the present Neoclassical portico. The next owners, Anne Pendleton Forrest and Dr. William Mentzel Forrest, added to the rear wing with a design by architect Stanislaw J. Makielski of CharlottesvilleCharlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
. The complex includes a number of outbuildings, including two separate doctor's office buildings, a garage, barn, smokehouse, and the Pendleton family cemetery.
Description
Cuckoo is a brick two-story three-bay center-hall structure, with single rooms flanking the stair hall. The house is fronted by a porch across its entire width. A second set of rooms, part of the original one-story section, lie to the rear of the front rooms, with further 20th-century additions across the back. A semicircular closet with a small window projects at the ground floor between the fireplaces of the rooms to the right of the center hall. The fireplaces and chimneys project prominently from both side elevations. The Makielski addition to the rear features a bowed porch that echoes the curve of the closet. The interior of the addition includes a back stairway.Outbuildings
The small doctor's office is believed to have been built in the early-to-mid 19th century for Dr. Robert Barret a short distance to the north of Cuckoo, and was moved to Cuckoo by Dr. Philip Barbour Pendleton prior to the Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
for use as Pendleton's medical office. The large doctor's office was built circa 1888 for Dr. Eugene Pendleton on the grounds of his house, named Linwood, in the village of Cuckoo. It was expanded to accommodate his son's practice about 1908, and was moved to Cuckoo in 1910 when Eugene moved there. The office was moved again in 1972 when the highway was widened, and was used as a medical office by Dr. Eugene Barbour Pendleton until 1979. A smokehouse was built in the late 19th century, and a barn in the early 20th century. An octagonal wood wellhouse, built in the late 19th or early 20th century, stands close to the main house. A garage was built in the 1930s.
Cemetery
The Pendleton cemetery is located in an oak grove at the top of a small rise about 1/4 mile from the house. Surrounded by a low stone wall, the cemetery contains three gravestones and several unmarked graves.Recent history
Cuckoo was listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
on August 19, 1994. The house sustained damage in the 2011 Virginia earthquake
2011 Virginia earthquake
The 2011 Virginia earthquake occurred on August 23, 2011, at 1:51 pm EDT in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of Virginia. The epicenter, in Louisa County, was northwest of Richmond and south-southwest of the town of Mineral...
, with the collapse of its tall chimneys.