Yes it looks like a Camellia.

It looks like on of the really old varieties or even a species. It may be hard to pin down a variety as these old single types aren't really grown much anymore.

Thank you both! Glad to know that my first idea was probably correct. It was the scent that confused me since I've never seen a fragrant camellia.

Named horticultural selections of this general type are grouped together as Sasanqua camellias, after one of the involved species. In my region autumn and winter blooming camellias are a regaulr part of the annual show at independent garden centers, just as are spring blooming camellias (and other spring blooming shrubs such as rhododendrons and azaleas).

I wrote a letter to the owner of the property, asking if I could take a few cuttings. Haven't had a reply, but now I've read that it's really hard to propagate camellias, darn it!

Camellias are not any more difficult to strike from cuttings than any other BLE!! Just the wrong time of year to attempt now....best done in late summer or early fall.

https://gardenerspath.com/plants/ornamentals/propagate-camellias/#From-Cuttings

I'd expect that most commercial production of camellias is still being done using stem cuttings. So thousands and thousands of plants having been produced that way over the years. And wholesale growers tend not to bother with propagation methods that don't generate good results (large numbers of "takes" with least possible amount of trouble). To the extent that what particular varieties of plants are presented to the public in much quantity is governed to a large degree by how easy each is to produce.

Hmmm. I don't consider Camellias easy to prop, unless one has a mist bench. Still, it can be done without one, and the best time for that is once the temperatures have cooled in fall, leaving the cuttings outside in a protected spot through the winter. They need a good strong shot of rooting hormone like Dip N' Grow.

YMMV

Gardengal, this IS early fall here in Northern Virgnia! It was 75 today and we've had along stretch of warm, dry weather.

Also, what is BLE?

BLE stands for broadleaved evergreen or shrubs that hold their foliage all year, like boxwood or rhododendrons. Or camellias :-)

And it is not so much the temperature that is the governing factor in when best to take cuttings but where in the seasonal cycle the plant is. Camellia cuttings take fastest from semi-ripe wood and that is typically present from July through late September. Much later than that and the success rate declines as the plant comes closer to dormancy. Early spring is a good time as well, just as new growth resumes, but may have an increased tendency to rot before rooting.