Virginia Mansions & Plantations

From the Tidewater region to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia contains some of the most architecturally rich, and perhaps the most historically important, homes in America. Spanning three centuries, the plantation homes and historic residences of some of the most important people in history have been preserved. Additionally, many plantations have been transformed to include libraries and museums and others show visitors a historic representation of working plantation farms.

The list below, in alphabetical order under county or major city categories, provides links to plantation homes and residences that contain historic significance to the historian.

Accomack County

• Ker Place: Ker Place was built circa 1799 in the Grand Federal style. It has elaborate millwork and sophisticated composition ornamentation on the mantles and crown mouldings. It is furnished to appear as it would have in the early 1800’s. Today, Ker Place is a historic house museum and headquarters of the Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society and The Center for Eastern Shore History.

Albemarle County

• Ash Lawn-Highland: Ash Lawn-Highland is an historic house museum, 535-acre working farm, and performing arts site in Albemarle County, Virginia. President James Monroe and his wife, Elizabeth Kortright Monroe of New York, owned Ash Lawn-Highland from 1793 to 1826 and made it their official residence from 1799 to 1823. After the Monroes’ death, the name of their farm was changed from “Highland” to “Ash Lawn”; today both names are used.

Bedford County

• Avenel: The original plantation known as Avenel was built circa 1838 by William M. Burwell and his wife, Frances Steptoe Burwell. Located in the heart of the city of Bedford. Avenel has been the centerpiece of social, cultural, and political life for over 150 years. Avenel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register.
• Poplar Forest: Poplar Forest is Thomas Jefferson’s secluded retreat, now a National Historic Landmark. Currently undergoing award-winning preservation, restoration and archaeology, Poplar Forest offers tours and special events.

Campbell County

• Red Hill: Red Hill plantation, home of one of Virginia’s most prominent historical figures, is located just 45 minutes from Lynchburg, five miles beyond the town of Brookneal, Virginia. The Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation is a non-profit corporation devoted to education and historic preservation. The Foundation promotes educational and research programs about the life, character, times, philosophy and legacy of Patrick Henry.

Charles City County

• Berkeley Plantation: Visit the birthplace of William Henry Harrison, 9th U.S. President and Benjamin Harrison V, Signer of the Declaration of Independence. Located in Charles City, this also is the ancestral Home of Benjamin Harrison, 23rd U.S. president.
• Evelynton: Evelynton was originally part of William Byrd’s expansive Westover Plantation. Named for Byrd’s daughter, Evelyn, this site has been home to the Ruffin family since 1847. Burned during the Civil War Battle of Evelynton Heights, the house was later rebuilt. Today, the 2,500-acre farm is still family owned and operated. The house and grounds at this time are closed.
• Kittiewan Plantation: Built in the 18th Century, the first known owner of the house was Dr. William Rickman. In 1776 Rickman was appointed by the Continental Congress to oversee the Virginia hospitals during the American Revolution. During the Civil War, the property was occupied by Union troops under General Philip Sheridan as the Army of the Potomac prepared to cross the James River during the Seige of Petersburg.
• Sherwood Forest: Sherwood Forest Plantation was the home of the 10th U.S. President John Tyler from 1842 until his death in 1862. Sherwood Forest Plantation has been the continuous residence of the Tyler family since the President purchased it in 1842. Sherwood Forest Plantation’s grounds are open 9:00 am-5:00 pm daily. Located on State Rt. 5, 14501 John Tyler Highway, Charles City, VA. 30 minutes from Williamsburg and 45 minutes from Richmond. 804-829-5377. 3 miles west of the courthouse in Charles City County – Tyler Country.
• Shirley Plantation: Shirley Plantation is Virginia’s first plantation (1613) and one of the first economic engines of the new world. Only six years after John Smith’s settlement at Jamestown, the crown grant carving Shirley Plantation out of the Virginia frontier was established. Today, Shirley continues to be a working plantation, a private family home, a growing business, a National Historic Landmark, and a direct link between the past and the present.
• Westover: Westover was built circa 1730 by William Byrd II, the founder of Richmond. It is noteworthy for its secret passages, magnificent gardens, and architectural details. The grounds and garden are open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, but the house is not open to the public.

Charlottesville

• Monticello: The Thomas Jefferson Foundation owns and operates Monticello, the mountaintop home of Thomas Jefferson and the only home in America on the elite World Heritage List of the United Nations. Since 1923, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation has steadily expanded its role as a museum and educational institution.

Clarke County

• Long Branch House Museum & Farm: This is an elegantly restored 1811 Greek Revival mansion situated on 400 acres at the foot of the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains in Clarke County. The house is exquisitely furnished with an opulent collection of period pieces.

Fairfax County

• Gunston Hall Plantation: Located just south of Washington, D.C., Gunston Hall maintains a tour, museum, grounds and visitor’s center.
• Mount Vernon: The estate, gardens and farm of Mount Vernon totaled some 8,000 acres in the 18th century. Today, roughly 500 acres of this historic estate have been preserved 16 miles south of Washington, D.C., on the banks of the Potomac River. Visitors can see 20 structures and 50 acres of gardens as they existed in 1799. The estate also includes a museum, the tombs of George and Martha Washington, Washington’s greenhouse, an outdoor exhibit devoted to American agriculture as practiced by Washington, the nation’s most important memorial to the accomplishments of 18th-century slaves, and a collection which features numerous decorative and domestic artifacts.
• Woodlawn: George Washington gave 2,000 acres of his Mount Vernon estate in 1799 as a wedding gift to Eleanor “Nelly” Custis, his wife’s granddaughter, and her husband, Major Lawrence Lewis, Washington’s nephew. Their home was designed by Dr. William Thornton, first architect of the U.S. Capitol.

Frederick County

• Belle Grove Plantation: During the Civil War, Belle Grove was at the center of the decisive Battle of Belle Grove or Cedar Creek. Today, the plantation includes the main house and gardens, original outbuildings, a classic 1918 barn, an overseer’s house, the slave cemetery, a heritage apple orchard, fields and meadows, and scenic mountain views.

Fredericksburg

• Chatham Manor: Built between the years 1768 and 1771 by William Fitzhugh, this grand Georgian-style house overlooking the Rappahannock River was for many years the center of a large, thriving plantation. Today Chatham is part of Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park.
• Kenmore Plantation & Gardens: Historic Kenmore Plantation & Gardens, one of the most elegant Colonial mansions in America, lies in the heart of historic Fredericksburg. It was built by George Washington’s sister, Betty, and her husband, Fielding Lewis, a wealthy merchant.

Gloucester County

• Rosewell Ruins: Rosewell was built 1725-1738 and gutted by fire in 1916. Four massive chimneys, one wall, and a vaulted cellar are now silent witnesses to history. Stabilized, but not rebuilt, Rosewell allows visitors to inspect 18th-century brickwork from a perspective that no intact building can offer.

Goochland County

• Tuckahoe Plantation: A home and working farm for nearly 300 years, Tuckahoe Plantation is the boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson. Tuckahoe is the only early Randolph home still standing on its original site and contains outstanding interior paneling and embellishments. Tuckahoe is owned privately today and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1969.

Henrico County

• Wilton House Museum: Built in 1753 for the family of William Randolph III, Wilton was originally the center of a 2,000 acre self-sufficient tobacco plantation on the banks of the James River in Varina. Due to the industrialization of the surrounding area, Wilton was purchased and carefully moved to its current site by the Virginia Society of The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in 1933. Opened to the public in 1952, Wilton today plays host to an exquisite collection of 18th- and 19th- centuries furnishings, textiles, glass, ceramics, and silver that reflect the “planter” lifestyle of the mid-18th century.

Hopewell City

• Weston Manor: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Weston Plantation includes an elegant 18th-century plantation home overlooking the Appomattox River plus new kitchen and laundry dependencies. The home is notable for preserving much of its original interior.

King William County

• Chelsea Plantation: Built in 1709 during the Queen Anne period by Col. Augustine Moore, Chelsea is the 2nd oldest Virginia Plantation open for tours. It is on the National Historic Registry and located in West Point.

Loudoun County

• Oatlands Plantation: Oatlands Plantation is a Greek Revival home built in 1803 by land baron George Carter, an Englishman. This 260-acre plantation, which opened to the public in 1966, is one of 18 national properties on the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Mecklenburg County

• Prestwood Plantation: Sir Peyton Skipwith, originally of England and then Virginia, built this home in 1794. Prestwould is the most complete gentry home in Virginia. Located in Clarksville, this site has one of the largest collections of slave writings in the country.

Montgomery County

• Smithfield Plantation: Built in 1773, Smithfield Plantation was the home of Revolutionary War patriot William Preston. Smithfield was first opened to the public in 1964, and today is a living document of the past, a testimony to the bravery and devotion to country of the Prestons who made it their home.

Nelson County

• Oak Ridge Estate: The mansion on this 5,000-acre plantation estate was first built in 1802 and acquired at the turn of the 20th century by Thomas Fortune Ryan, a Nelson County native who had become one of the 10 wealthiest men in the nation.

Newport News

• Lee Hall Mansion: Lee Hall Mansion is an Italianate mansion constructed circa 1850 by wealthy planter Richard Decauter Lee. Now restored to its pre-Civil War splendor, the home served as a Confederate headquarters during the 1862 Peninsula Campaign.

Orange County

• Montpelier: The Montpelier Foundation’s primary mission is to present the lasting legacy of James Madison as Father of the U.S. Constitution, architect of the Bill of Rights, and fourth president of the United States. In 2003 The Montpelier Foundation began the restoration of the Montpelier mansion to the 1820s home that James and Dolley Madison knew and loved. The architectural restoration was celebrated on Constitution Day, September 17, 2008.

Patrick County

• Reynolds Homestead: Built in 1843, the two-story brick home has been restored to its nineteenth century state and includes many of the original family furnishings. Located in Critz, a family cemetery is located near the house and across a field is the slave cemetery.

Powhatan County

• Belmead Mansion: Known as “The Castle” by locals, Belmead is an architectural wonder and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in the mid 1800’s by General Philip St. George Cocke, Belmead is located on approximately 1200 acres of land overlooking the James River in Powhatan County.

Surry County

• Chippokes Farm and Forestry Museum: Chippokes Plantation Farm Foundation provides the public with an enjoyable educational experience, which focuses on the history of agriculture, forestry and conservation. Located on the banks of the historic James River, the foundation operates one of the oldest continuously farmed plantations in the country.

Virginia Beach

• Lynnhaven House: In the modern bustling resort city of Virginia Beach, in a lovely, peaceful country-like setting serenely stands a true monument to the 18th century. Lynnhaven House still breathes the air of the life that it knew in 1725 when it was so soundly constructed. This small but stately brick structure was built near the waters of the Lynnhaven River and the Chesapeake Bay. Costumed docents conduct tours of the House and grounds as guests arrive. On the grounds are gardens and a small Revolutionary War graveyard.

Westmoreland County

• Stratford Hall: The Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation, a non-profit organization first incorporated in New York, purchased the Stratford Hall property in 1929 and began raising the funds to pay off its $240,000 price tag in the midst of the Great Depression. By the time of its dedication in 1935, Stratford Hall was paid for and most of the historic buildings and gardens had been restored.