Virginia is as much a state of mind as a set of geographical boundaries. Its western terrain encompasses dramatically beautiful mountaintops and scrubby lowlands, luxuriantly rich terrain, and rocky, almost untillable land. The green forests, rich loam, red clay, and sandy soil attracted waves of immigrants, newcomers almost as varied as the landscape. They came first to explore and trade and then to work, often to overwork, the land. The result in architecture is one of conservatism and rebellion, a region supremely proud of its history and, all too often, neglectful of its...