Azurest South
Designated other 1Virginia Landmarks Register
Designated other1 dateOctober 20, 1993[1]
Designated other1 number020-5583
Location2900 Boisseau St. Ettrick, VA 23803
Coordinates37.24046°N 77.41711°W
LocmapinVirginia#USA
Built1938
ArchitectMeredith, Amaza Lee; Holmes, Russell
ArchitectureInternational Style
AddedDecember 30, 1993
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
Refnum93001464 (NRHP nomination)
100011351 (NHL designation)[2]

Azurest South was the home and workplace of Amaza Lee Meredith, one of the nation's first black female architects. Located on the campus of Virginia State University, the home is one of the few examples of the Post World War I German style: International Style in Virginia. She shared the home with her partner, Dr. Edna Meade Colson, who served as dean of the Virginia State University School of Education.[3] Meredith founded Virginia State University's fine arts department in 1930. When Meredith died, she left half of the property's interest to the Virginia State University National Alumni Association, and after Colson's death, the association purchased the other half of the estate.[4]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993,[2] and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2024.[5]

Azurest South displays "a fascination with modernity, a familiarity with new materials and construction details, and a love of nature."[4] The building is located in a dell on the eastern edge of campus.[6] The exterior consists of white stucco concrete blocks, while the interior incorporates reds and blues, creating a sense of "playfulness." The kitchen used to feature colored mosaic tiles. They were removed at some point after 1984, but the Virginia State University Alumni Association hopes to restore them.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  2. ^
  3. ^ Calder Loth; Mary Harding Sadler; James Hill (September 1993). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Azurest South". Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission. Archived from the original on 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2013-06-16. and Accompanying four photos Archived 2012-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Loth, Calder (ed.) (1995). Virginia Landmarks of Black History: Sites on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. pp. 17–19. ISBN 0813916003.
  5. ^ "WEEKLY LIST OF ACTIONS TAKEN ON PROPERTIES: 12/16/2024 THROUGH 12/18/2024". National Park Service. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
  6. ^ Sadler, Mary Harding (2004). "Amaza Lee Meredith". African American Architects: A Biographical Dictionary 1865-1945. Wilson, Dreck Spurlock (ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 280–282. ISBN 0415929598.
  7. ^ Som, Nicholas. "The Colorful Past and Bright Future of Azurest South, Home of a Pioneering Black Architect". Saving Places. National Trust for Historic Preservation. Retrieved April 5, 2024.