LANCASTER—America is dotted with public buildings that folks stroll or drive past without a second thought, places that aren’t famous, don’t star in guidebooks and rarely show up on Instagram, but absolutely should.
From century-old courthouses to quietly majestic libraries, these structures carry more history, craftsmanship and architectural personality than many of the landmarks that get all the attention.
To find the country’s most underrated civic gems, LovesDesign.com, custom wallpaper experts, commissioned a nationwide survey of 3,014 respondents, asking them which public buildings in their state they consider beautiful yet constantly overlooked. The results reveal a surprisingly rich cross-section of American design—buildings that shine not through spectacle, but through proportion, material, setting and that hard-to-define sense of civic pride.
Among 133 public buildings on the “most beautiful” list nationwide, the historic Lancaster County Courthouse ranked #21, the highest billing of Virginia’s three….
