Riverlawn, an estate off Williams Wharf Road on the East River in Mathews County, has been named to the Virginia Landmarks Register by the Department of Historic Resources.

The home, built in 1874, was determined to be locally significant due to its association with community leader and businessman John J. Burke III, who lived there with his wife from 1917 to 1931, according to a press release from DHR. The home has been largely unaltered since that time.

While living at Riverlawn, Burke was active in local and regional finance and politics and served as director of the Bank of Mathews and publisher of the Mathews Journal, said the release.

The home is also locally significant as an embodiment of a large and well-proportioned 1870s simplified Federal/Colonial Revival-style dwelling with sensitive updates in the 1920s and 1950s.

Joseph K. Reid III and his wife Carter, of Richmond, purchased the property in 2010 and pursued the landmark status after confirming the house’...