Bremo Historic District
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Bremo Historic District
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Plantation mansion at Upper Bremo, HABS photo, 1933
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| Location | Bremo Bluff, Virginia |
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| Coordinates | 37°43′32″N 78°19′47″W / 37.72542°N 78.32973°WCoordinates: 37°43′32″N 78°19′47″W / 37.72542°N 78.32973°W |
| Area | 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) |
| Built | 1725 (Lower Bremo) 1812 (Bremo Recess) 1819 (Bremo Mansion) |
| Architect |
John Hartwell Cocke Thomas Jefferson John Neilson (c.1770 - 1827) |
| Architectural style |
Jacobean (Lower Bremo and Bremo Recess) Palladian (Bremo Mansion) |
| NRHP Reference # | 69000241 |
| VLR # | 032-0002 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | November 12, 1969 |
| Designated NHLD | November 11, 1971 |
| Designated VLR | September 9, 1969 |
Bremo, also known as Bremo Plantation or Bremo Historic District, is a plantation estate covering 1,500 acres (610 ha) on the west side of Bremo Bluff in Fluvanna County, Virginia. The large mansion at Upper Bremo was designed by owner John Hartwell Cocke in consultation with John Neilson (c.1770 - 1827), the designer of Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. The estate includes two smaller residences built at Lower Bremo and Bremo Recess.
The plantation, which overlooks the James River, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969 and declared a National Historic Landmark in 1971 for its significance as a well-preserved example of Jeffersonian archicture.
Starting in 1808, John Hartwell Cocke built an estate of three houses along the James River, which he named "Bremo" after his family's ancestral home of Braemore in Scotland. One of the original structures was an ancestral hunting lodge at Lower Bremo that was built of stone and dated back to 1725. Cocke inhabited this lodge close to the river as his first home on the estate.
Around 1812, Cocke completed a larger home for himself and his wife Anne Blaws Barraud at Bremo Recess, situated on higher ground farther back from the James River. This house featured dormer windows, a pointed roof, and later incorporated elements of Jacobean architecture. Anne died in December 1816 and was buried at Bremo Recess, where her ghost has reportedly been sighted wandering in the house.
During his time at Lower Bremo and Bremo Recess, Cocke began working on the design of a grand plantation mansion to be built at the Upper Bremo area. Cocke spared no expense during the construction, utilizing hand-molded brick. Even the neighboring barn was adorned with columns. The construction of the mansion took several years and was completed in 1819. At about the same time, the lodge at Lower Bremo was renovated for Cocke's son Cary.
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