Presbyterian Orphans Home, building in Virginia, United States
The Presbyterian Orphans Home is a historic building in Lynchburg, Virginia, built in 1911 and composed of six residence cottages in Georgian Revival style arranged around a central space. The campus also includes a Greek Revival gymnasium with columns, farm buildings such as barns and stables, and pathways across the approximately 166-acre grounds.
The facility was founded by the Presbyterian General Assembly in 1903 and moved to its current location in Lynchburg's Peakland neighborhood in 1911. A devastating fire in 1909 claimed five children's lives and destroyed Shelton Cottage, drawing significant community attention to safety issues.
The home was built with six separate cottages to give children a feeling of family life rather than institutional living. This approach was unusual at the time and showed a new way of thinking about caring for children without families.
The complex is located in Lynchburg's Peakland neighborhood and many buildings are visible from the road, though parts of the grounds remain private. Visitors should respect residents' privacy and observe from public pathways and viewpoints.
Two prominent architects, Warren H. Manning and Charles Gillette, designed the entire campus with careful planning and refined taste. Their approach was groundbreaking because it rejected the large institutional dormitories typical of orphanages at the time in favor of small cottages that felt like homes.
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