Federal Hill is a three part, Palladian-type dwelling constructed in 1782 and located in Campbell County, Virginia.

[4] In addition to fifty-four years of service as the Clerk of Bedford County, Steptoe also remained a lifelong friend of Thomas Jefferson.

[3] Federal Hill's plan is modeled after 18th century Palladian architecture adapted to Virginia's three part house style.

The assembly hall is the most elaborate room in the house, featuring a double-paneled wainscot and a molded chair rail.

The physical features of the office are as follows: a 1+1⁄2-story, wood-frame, weatherboarded building covered by a gable roof with an exterior brick chimney laid in Flemish bond with rodded joints.

Under Jefferson's influence, Secretary of the Colony Thomas Nelson appointed Steptoe as the second clerk of Bedford County on January 17, 1772.

Frederick Johnston explains in Memorials of Old Virginia Clerks that "the population was sparse, and the people plain and generally uneducated—a very different state of society from that which James Steptoe had been accustomed to.

The Nomination Form for the National Register of Historic Places for Federal Hill reports that "marriage must have made life on the frontier more agreeable to Steptoe, since shortly thereafter he was engaged in building a new dwelling house for his bride.

Federal Hill passes to his eldest son, James C. Steptoe who also succeeded his father as clerk of Bedford County from February 1820 to October 1827.

The property of Federal Hill is also home to the Calloway-Steptoe Cemetery, which serves as the final resting place for several prominent area settlers and their descendants.