Bacon's Castle
A historic house museum in Surry County, Virginia, and the oldest documented brick dwelling in what is now the United States.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Bacon's Castle is a seventeenth-century historic house, museum, and preservation site in Surry County, Virginia. Built in 1665 for the prosperous merchant and local justice Arthur Allen, the house is widely regarded as the oldest documented brick dwelling in what is now the United States. It is also an exceptionally rare surviving example of high-style Carolean architecture in the New World, a design tradition associated with the English Restoration period. Its distinctive architecture includes shaped Flemish gables, large stacked chimneys, formal interior woodwork, and carved compass-rose motifs. The building was originally known as the Allen family house, or Allen's Brick House, and was inherited by Arthur Allen II after his father's death in 1669. The property acquired its enduring popular name from its occupation as a fortified position by supporters of Nathaniel Bacon during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. The name is historically evocative but potentially misleading: Bacon himself is not known to have lived at, or even visited, the house. Rebel forces held and fortified the property for more than three months before royal forces supporting Governor William Berkeley retook the position around the end of 1676 and the beginning of 1677. The name appears to have become established later, with its use documented in the Virginia Gazette in 1769. Bacon's Castle remained a private plantation and residence for centuries. The property experienced major social and economic changes after the Civil War, including the loss of enslaved labor and heavy debt. The Hankins family ultimately sold the roughly 1,200-acre estate in 1872 to satisfy a mortgage. Later owners included William Allen Warren, Charles Allen Warren, and Walker Pegram Warren. After Walker Warren and his wife died in an automobile accident in 1973, their estate sold the mansion, outbuildings, and approximately 40 acres to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, now known as Preservation Virginia. Preservation Virginia restored the house and continues to operate it as a historic site under its nonprofit status. The visitor experience extends beyond the main residence to barns, smokehouses, former slave and tenant quarters, other dependencies, and a rare seventeenth-century English formal garden. The site combines architectural interpretation, colonial and early American social history, the history of Bacon's Rebellion, plantation history, and preservation education. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. Bacon's Castle is best understood not as a commercial consumer brand but as a heritage institution whose identity is built around authenticity, architectural rarity, and public interpretation. Its significance is regional and national rather than mass-market: it represents early Virginia building traditions, the material history of the James River region, and the continuing work of conserving historic landscapes. Surrounding farmland has also received conservation protection, helping preserve the rural setting that contributes to the site's historical character.
History
Arthur Allen, a wealthy merchant and justice of the peace in the newly established Surry County, Virginia, built the brick house in 1665 near the James River. The building followed the high-style Carolean idiom of Restoration-era England, making it unusually ambitious for colonial Virginia. Allen lived there with his wife, Alice Tucker Allen, until his death in 1669. Their son, Major Arthur Allen II, inherited the property and later served in the Virginia House of Burgesses. During Bacon's Rebellion in 1676, rebel supporters seized the Allen residence and converted it into a fortified post. The garrison was commanded at different times by William Rookings, Arthur Long, Joseph Rogers, and John Clements. It held the property for more than three months while the rebellion weakened after Nathaniel Bacon's death in October. Governor William Berkeley's loyal forces gradually reduced the remaining rebel positions. A force aboard the vessel Young Prince captured an unidentified fort on December 29, 1676; historians commonly identify that position with Bacon's Castle. After a short siege in early January 1677, the loyalists used the site in the final operations against the rebellion. The house's association with the rebellion gave rise to the name Bacon's Castle, although the name does not establish that Bacon personally occupied the building. Historical evidence does not show that he lived there or visited it. His principal Virginia plantation, Curles Neck, was approximately 30 miles upriver on the opposite side of the James. The castle name appears to have become established after the rebellion and was recorded in the Virginia Gazette in 1769. The property remained a plantation residence through later centuries. In the nineteenth century, the original one-story service wing was replaced by a taller Greek Revival addition. The entrance was moved from the center of the main block to the connecting section between the original house and the addition, and some diamond-pane casement windows were replaced with double-hung sash windows. These alterations were retained during later restoration because they form part of the building's documented architectural history. The Civil War and its aftermath brought severe pressures to the estate. The emancipation of enslaved people removed the labor system on which many James River plantations had depended, while debt made the property increasingly difficult to maintain. John Hankins mortgaged the estate before his death in 1870. His daughter Virginia Hankins sold the approximately 1,200-acre property to the mortgage holder in 1872, using the transaction to resolve the debt and support the education of her siblings. The family relocated to Richmond. William Allen Warren acquired the estate in 1880 and later transferred it to his son Charles Allen Warren in 1909. Following Charles Warren's death in 1931, ownership passed to his son Walker Pegram Warren, who had been born in the house. Walker Warren and his wife used Bacon's Castle as a second home until their deaths in an automobile accident in 1973. Their estate subsequently sold the mansion, dependencies, and approximately 40 acres to the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, now Preservation Virginia. The remaining plantation acreage passed separately into agricultural ownership. Preservation Virginia restored the house and developed it as a public historic site. The preserved property includes the main house, barns, smokehouses, former slave and tenant quarters, additional dependencies, and a rare example of a seventeenth-century English formal garden. Bacon's Castle is recognized as a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its current role is that of a nonprofit historic house museum, with visitation and interpretation focused on architecture, colonial society, slavery and plantation life, Bacon's Rebellion, and long-term preservation. In the twenty-first century, conservation efforts have extended beyond the buildings. In 2015, a grant supported the purchase of a conservation easement on roughly 1,260 acres of surrounding farmland. Protecting this landscape helps retain the agricultural and rural context in which the historic house was built and viewed.
- 2015
Surrounding farmland receives conservation support
[1]A $257,996 conservation grant supported an easement protecting approximately 1,260 acres around the historic site from development.
- 1973
Preservation ownership begins
[1]Following the deaths of Walker and Mrs. Warren, the mansion, dependencies, and 40 acres were acquired by the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities.
- 1960
National Historic Landmark designation
[1]Bacon's Castle received National Historic Landmark recognition for its national architectural and historical importance.
- 1872
Hankins family sells the estate
[1]Virginia Hankins sold the approximately 1,200-acre estate to the mortgage holder amid post-Civil War debt.
- 1769
Name appears in the Virginia Gazette
[1]The name Bacon's Castle was documented in newspaper accounts discussing Bacon's Rebellion.
- 1677
Royal forces retake the fortified house
[1]Loyalist forces captured the position after a brief siege and used it during the final phase of the rebellion.
- 1676
House fortified during Bacon's Rebellion
[1]Followers of Nathaniel Bacon seized and fortified the Allen residence, giving the property its later popular name.
- 1669
Arthur Allen dies
[1]Allen's son, Major Arthur Allen II, inherited the house and property.
- 1665
Brick house constructed
[1]Arthur Allen completed the high-style brick residence now known as Bacon's Castle.
- 1652
Surry County established
[1]Surry County was formed in the Virginia colony, creating the local governmental setting in which Arthur Allen later established the estate.
Products and positioning
A nonprofit-operated historic house museum positioned around architectural rarity, colonial Virginia history, preservation, and public education.
heritage visitation
Historic house museum
The central offering is public access to the 1665 brick residence through historic-site visitation and interpretation. Visitors encounter the house's Carolean architectural features, later Greek Revival changes, period spaces, and material evidence of the Allen, Hankins, and Warren ownership eras.
heritage landscape
Historic grounds and dependencies
The preserved site includes approximately 40 acres associated with the mansion, barns, smokehouses, former slave and tenant quarters, other plantation dependencies, and a rare seventeenth-century English formal garden. Together these resources broaden interpretation beyond the main house.
Recent events
- 2015
Conservation easement protects farmland surrounding Bacon's Castle[1]
Other
The Virginia Outdoors Foundation received a $257,996 Virginia Land Conservation Foundation grant to help acquire a conservation easement covering approximately 1,260 acres of privately owned farmland around Bacon's Castle. The easement was intended to prevent residential and commercial development and preserve the site's rural setting.
Sources1 sources
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