By Taylor Boyd
Joanne Hill’s latest work, “A Study of Sunset: The stories behind the homes on Sunset Drive in Stuart, Virginia,” focuses on the history and residents of the homes on Sunset Drive in Stuart, where she lives.
The 45-page booklet was published in February 2026.
Hill said she was inspired to write work because of the deserted home across the road from her property.
“It’s been deserted for almost 20 years, and it continues to deteriorate. So, two or three years ago I thought, ‘If I could get that house listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, then maybe it would become available and there would be a chance of renovating it,’” she said.
After Hill’s research, she contacted the Roanoke regional office about the registration process. Hill said she was told she was wasting her time, and that it would cost around $5,000 to $7,000 to have it surveyed and get all the necessary paperwork completed.
“They said there’s lot of houses of similar architecture throughout the state of Virginia. I thought, ‘Well, there’s not another one like it in Patrick County,’” she said.
Hill believes the 1936 Tudor cottage style home is historic because its first owner, Jessie F. Reynolds, was the Post Master of Stuart for more than 30 years.
“He was appointed by President Roosevelt and voted on by the Senate, which was required back then, so I thought that makes it historic,” she said.
After being discouraged from the process of getting the home listed, Hill said she thought about the rest of the homes on Sunset Drive, and decided to research the rest of the half-a-mile street.
“The house beside me was built in 1926, 100 years ago. Then chronologically, they were all built up until my house, this was the last house built on the street, and it’s 50 years old. So, I am the longest remaining resident on Sunset Drive — and the youngest house,” she said.
Hill said residents of Sunset Drive included a former clerk of court, lawyers, doctors, merchants, teachers, a commissioner of revenue, businessmen, and others.
“It just makes it such an interesting collection of things in such a small location,” she said.
Like most locations, Hill said the street’s culture has changed.
“In the 1950s, it was mostly families with children, where the father was a professional and the mother stayed home and the children played in the yards and rode their bikes in the street. I understand they got together on this lot and played ball. You don’t see children playing in the yard as much,” she said.
Now, Hill said there’s a shift in the home-occupants, with more retired and single-person households than young families starting out.
She estimates it took about two years to complete her booklet.
“I would do a house, and it would take a while to work on it because a lot of them I went to the clerk house and looked up the history of it to see who initially bought the land and what time the house was built. Then I would go to the library and use microfilm to look up obituaries and so forth,” she said.
Hill believes it’s interesting that many of the street’s male residents were Free Masons, active in Rotary, and members of the American Legion.
“A lot of these older gentlemen that built these houses were in World War II,” she said.
Although she researched the homes in the order she preferred, Hill said they are presented in chronological order in the booklet.
“The booklet just kind of takes you back to the origination of this street,” she said.
The booklet can be purchased at Mattie B’s on Stuart’s Main Street or directly from Hill.
Proceeds from the book’s sale will be donated to the Patrick County retired Teachers Scholarship Fund.
