A slightly smaller version of the earlier and more elaborate Tuckahoe (c. 1723) in Goochland County, Keswick was built on the opposite side of the James River. Like Tuckahoe, Keswick is H-shaped in plan and takes a prominent place among the James River plantation houses. Exterior-end brick chimneys frame the two-story three-bay weather-boarded residence with its gabled roofs. The entrance is sheltered by a one-story portico with a gable roof above an elliptical arch supported by paired Doric colonettes. The house was built for Major John Clarke, founder of the Bellona Arsenal (CS11), which stands on the Chesterfield County portion of his Keswick property. Keswick retains many of its outbuildings. The most unusual is the circular brick building with a conical roof and central chimney. It had long been thought to have served as slave housing, but more recently, it has been speculated that it was used for raising silkworms.