Peyton Boyd
Abingdon architect Peyton Boyd delivers an illustrated lecture, which highlights Abingdon's rich architectural history, from colonial structures such as the Tavern to Federalist public buildings, late 19th-century Victorian structures to 20th-century modern buildings.
The lecture, part of the Virginia Highlands Festival, is held Thursday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m., in the executive auditorium of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center. It is free of charge.
Abingdon is sometimes described as the oldest English-speaking settlement west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A handful of surviving buildings in the historic district were constructed soon after the town's incorporation in 1778. The houses, churches and retail establishments built in the century and a half beginning in 1788 (the date of the oldest surviving structure, the Tavern) represent a panorama of architectural styles.
The illustrated lecture reviews the progression of architectural fashion in Abingdon that closely reflected the prevailing national tastes of the times. The preference for buildings in the Colonial, Georgian or Federal styles stayed strong into the middle of the 19th century. These were overlapped by an interest in various romantic revival styles (Greek, Italianate, Gothic) as well as Victorian examples such as Queen Anne and Second Empire that lasted into the last half of the century.
As a highly regarded proponent of design excellence, Boyd uses the power of architecture and the arts to elevate the quality of life of society in general and his local community in particular. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Architecture, he is president of Peyton Boyd Architecture. His design expertise spans museums and exhibition spaces, campuses, performance venues, commercial buildings and residences. Boyd has been a guest lecturer on a variety of topics including historic preservation, downtown revitalization, sustainable development and art in architecture.
During many years of service on Abingdon's Historic Preservation Review Board from 1996 to 2015, he participated in updating the board's Design Review Guidelines and in revising Abingdon's Historic Preservation Plan.
Boyd is past chair of the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design in Richmond. He served in the American Institute of Architects in various positions, including past president of AIA Blue Ridge and past president of AIA Virginia. During AIA150, celebrating the sesquicentennial of the AIA in 2007, he was guest curator of the traveling exhibit "Livable Communities for Virginia." AIA Virginia honored him in 1998 with its Award for Distinguished Achievement, and in 2010 with the William C. Noland Medal, the statewide organization's highest honor.
In 2011 he was elevated to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.
For more information about the Virginia Highlands Festival, visit vahighlandsfestival.org.
