Mirador (Boundary Increase) National Register of Historic Places Listing

James Bowen built the brick mansion in 1842. He wanted a grand home. But the property gained its real notoriety later when Chiswell Langhorne bought it in 1892. His daughters grew up running wild across these lawns. One, Irene, became the original "Gibson Girl" icon of the Gilded Age, while her sister Nancy crossed the Atlantic, married Lord Astor, and became the first female member of the British Parliament. So, Mirador holds major historical weight. But the architecture tells a different story, one of constant adaptation.

In the 1920s, Nancy's niece, Phyllis Langhorne Brand, inherited the place. She wanted change. So, she hired renowned architect William Adams Delano to overhaul the house. Delano added massive wings and classic Georgian Revival details, transforming the old Southern farmhouse into an elite country estate. The original 1983 historic designation missed the point, though. It only protected the main house and its immediate yard. A tiny slice of history. The 2003 boundary increase corrected this narrow view by adding over 130 acres of the surrounding farm.

This expansion brought the outer working parts of the estate into the historic record. We are talking about the old cobblestone courtyards, the greenhouse, the massive horse stables, and the tenant houses. These structures show how the estate actually functioned. It wasn't just about high-society tea parties. Dozens of working-class laborers, both enslaved before the Civil War and hired afterward, kept the place running. By protecting these outlying fields, the nomination preserves the whole picture. Not just the pretty parts.