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Barboursville Vineyard Photograph courtesy of Barboursville Vineyard

Preserved as a ruin after its destruction by fire on Christmas Day, 1884, Barboursville was one of the largest and finest residences in the region. The only building in Orange County known to have been designed by Thomas Jefferson, Barboursville was constructed between 1814 and 1822 for Jefferson's friend James Barbour, Governor of Virginia (1812-1814), U.S. Senator, Secretary of War, and Ambassador to the Court of St. James.

Historic rendering of Barboursville Plantation Photograph courtesy of Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archives

Jefferson's drawings called for a dwelling with a recessed portico on the north front and a three-part bay sheltered by a portico on the south front, with dome above--a scheme resembling Jefferson's own home Monticello. The dome, however, was not built. Even in its ruinous state, the house presents a romantic image of the Jeffersonian ideal, a compact but architecturally sophisticated classical villa in a carefully contrived landscape setting. The great oval in front of the house was originally a racetrack. The stabilized ruins are now the centerpiece of one of Virginia's first large-scale wineries. They also serve as an exceptional background for the Four County Players' presentations of "Shakespeare at the Ruins" on August weekends.

Barboursville is located south of the junction of Rtes. 777 and 678. Self-guided tours of the ruins are allowed during the winery's hours of operation, 10:00am to 5:00pm. Monday-Saturday, and Sunday 11:00am to 5:00pm. Call 540-832-3824 or visit the website at http://www.barboursvillewine.com for further information.

“The Finest Residence in Orange County”

Requiring some 8 years to construct (beginning in 1814, a year of war with Britain) and assessed at the death of its creator, James Barbour, as the most valuable residence in a county including James Madison’s Montpelier and Philip Barbour’s Frascati, this second-generation estate house at Barboursville plantation was designed by Thomas Jefferson, one of only 3 residences he designed for his friends. The Barbour family continued to occupy this residence until it was destroyed by accidental fire at Christmas, 1884, and returned to the elegant Georgian villa next door for several generations, now The 1804 Inn.

Jefferson’s design embodied a number of his renowned signatures -- the integration of the structure into an elevated knoll, the dome (not erected), and an octagonal room at the focal point of the wings of the house. Here, the octagon forms a core for the three stories of the house; from the main level it rises as one room, 2 stories high. The grandeur of this room, projecting from the south facade, lends such power and elegance to this monumental house that it was irresistible to adopt its design in the nomenclature of Barboursville Vineyards’ ultimate red wine.

Approximately 8 miles south of James Madison’s Montpelier and 20 miles north of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello in the same Southwest Mountain chain, parallelling the Blue Ridge, Barboursville was settled as a substantial plantation by Thomas Barbour, in the mid-1700s, occupying somewhat more than 5 times the estate’s present size of 900-plus acres, (about 4,500 acres).

The career of Barbour’s fourth son, James, cemented the rapport between these three leading families of the Virginia Piedmont -- as gentry and political allies in the nascent Republican Party, which Jefferson and Madison would lead into the White House, and James Barbour into the Virginia Governor’s Mansion, the U.S. Senate, and important Cabinet and diplomatic positions thereafter.

It was as President of the Albemarle Agricultural Society, as each man was in his time, that their character as farmers achieved even greater influence. But it was in their character as friends and neighbors, that the lives of these men are so palpable at Barboursville Vineyards, the remaining one of these 3 estates to sustain their leadership in agriculture, in a viticultural dimension which Jefferson foresaw and pursued with passion.

Source:  http://barboursvillewine.net/b/content/view/31/97/

Personal Note:  My guess that this Barbour/Barber is related to the Barbers of Eastern NC.  Many of the families that were in Virginia migrated to Eastern, NC.