Herbert House

Herbert House. Ivy Home. In 1757, sea captain John Herbert built this house overlooking the Hampton River. Herbert's four sons served in Virginia's navy during the Revolution. A survivor of the two fires that ravaged Hampton, it is now the oldest brick dwelling in America's oldest continuous English-speaking city and one of the finest examples of refined Georgian architecture in the region. The Herbert House exhibits a full range of 18th century masonry techniques, with bricks laid in Flemish bond and ribbed bricks at the windows and door jambs. The sturdy house retains most of its structural wood framing and four of its original windows., It is likely that Herbert was aware that his house was near the place where the infamous pirate Blackbeard's head was impaled on a stake, as an example to others still plying his trade., The Herbert House has also been called Ivy Home, because of the abundant vines which once clung to its chimneys. The present-day Ivy Home Road owes its name to this property., The house remained in the Herbert Family until 1808, then passed through several owners. Because it was a plantation house outside corporate limits, it was spared from the conflagration that resulted when Confederate soldiers put the city to the torch during the Civil War. Thanks to Bluewater Yacht Sales, which donated the land, and William Jordan Company and PMA Architects, which contributed their services, the house was saved from demolition and restored., (captions) , Herbert House - Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum, Cheyne Collection , Herbert House - Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum , Herbert House - Courtesy of the Hampton History Museum