Belle Aire is a Greek Revival mansion

Mansion

A mansion is a very large dwelling house. U.S. real estate brokers define a mansion as a dwelling of over . A traditional European mansion was defined as a house which contained a ballroom and tens of bedrooms...

 listed on both the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 and the Virginia Landmarks Register

Virginia Landmarks Register

The Virginia Landmarks Register is a list of historic properties in the state of Virginia. The state's official list of important historic sites, it was created in 1966. The Register serves the same purpose as the National Register of Historic Places...

 in the Greater Deyerle

Greater Deyerle, Roanoke, Virginia

Greater Deyerle is a Roanoke, Virginia neighborhood located in extreme southwest Roanoke. It borders the neighborhoods of Raleigh Court on the east, Cherry Hill on the north, the city of Salem on the west and Roanoke County on the south...

 neighborhood of the independent city

Independent city

An independent city is a city that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity. These type of cities should not be confused with city-states , which are fully sovereign cities that are not part of any other sovereign state.-Historical precursors:In the Holy Roman Empire,...

 of Roanoke

Roanoke, Virginia

Roanoke is an independent city in the Mid-Atlantic U.S. state of Virginia and is the tenth-largest city in the Commonwealth. It is located in the Roanoke Valley of the Roanoke Region of Virginia. The population within the city limits was 97,032 as of 2010...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, U.S.A

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Located just south of Brandon Avenue SW (U.S. 11

U.S. Route 11 in Virginia

U.S. Route 11 in Virginia runs north–south through the western part of the state, parallel to Interstate 81.-History:What is now US 11 was added to the state highway system in 1918 as portions of State Route 10 and State Route 3 . SR 3 became State Route 33 in 1923, and US 11 was applied to...

) at 3820 Belle Aire Circle SW, Belle Aire was completed in 1849 as the private residence of Madison and Margeret Pitzer on a knoll overlooking their 1600 acre (2.5 sq mi; 6.475 km²) of land adjacent to the Roanoke River

Roanoke River

The Roanoke River is a river in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States, 410 mi long. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont...

. Today the home still stands, with the surrounding area now developed as single family home typical of those built during the 1970s-80s.

History

Belle Aire was constructed by Benjamin Deyerle and his carpenter Gustavus Sedon for the Pitzer family in 1849. Its Greek Revival embellishments were influenced by the New England architect Asher Benjamin

Asher Benjamin

Asher Benjamin was an American architect and author whose work transitioned between Federal style architecture and the later Greek Revival. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout New England until the Civil War...

's publication The Practical House Carpenter of 1830. The L-shaped home is of brick construction with stuccoed Doric

Doric order

The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...

 pilaster

Pilaster

A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....

s at the corners. Its most recoginizable feature is its 2-story pedimented portico four fluted Doric columns at each level. Today the home remains as a private residence.