Battersea
Battersea was the home of Colonel John Banister, a member of the House of Burgesses, the Revolutionary conventions, and the Continental Congress, as well as a framer of the Articles of Confederation and the first mayor of Petersburg. The elegant but compact house begun in 1768, perhaps best displays the Anglo-Palladian influence on Virginia's colonial plantation homes. Noted travelers, including the Italian Count Castiglioni and the French Marquis de Chastellux visted Battersea: Chastellux observed, "Mr. Banister's handsome country-house is really worth seeing." The elaborate Chinese lattice stair, based on a published design by English architect William Halfpenny, is original and Virginia's finest example.
Marker is at the intersection of West Washington Street (U.S. 1) and Battersea Lane, on the right when traveling west on West Washington Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
