About

This plain dwelling near the town of Dayton in Rockingham County is one of the few Continental-type farmhouses surviving from the heavy German settlement in the Shenandoah Valley. The central-chimney house is also one of the latest and most southern of these Germanic dwellings. The walls of the Peter Paul House are of log construction but were stuccoed over at an early date. Nearly all of the original interior fittings, including beaded partitions, simple Federal mantels, a ladder stair, a paneled door, and a batten door survive despite modern alterations. The house was built by Peter Paul between 1805 and 1815 on land formerly owned by the Harrison family. Paul appears in the Rockingham County records in 1802, and is first taxed for owning land in 1807.