Site Type: Museum or Cultural Center

Historical Significance:

Avoca, originally called Green Level by Colonel Charles Lynch (1736-1796) who came to this location about 1755 to establish his home, is part of a land grant from King George II to Colonel Lynch's father in 1740. Colonel Charles Lynch was a planter and distinguished himself as a lawmaker and soldier during the turbulent times of the Revolutionary era. The property passed down though the Lynch family and, upon the death of Charles Henry Lynch (1800-1875), his niece, Mary Anna Dearing Fauntleyroy inherited it. The property was deeded to the Town of Altavista in 1981.

Physical Description:

Avoca is a country Victorian home constructed in 1901 and is the third house on the property. The present home is built over the foundations of two previous dwellings which burned in 1879 and in 1900. The house is a comissioned work of the Lynchburg architect John Minor Botts Lewis. Lewis' design for Avoca is a prime example of the Queen Anne style as it had evolved by the turn of the century.