The central doorways on the north and south sides have low porches with square posts supporting gable roofs. The south porch is approached by a long flight of stone steps, splayed but lacking a balustrade; the north porch is near ground level. The doors in the center block, on the east and west elevations, are sheltered by pedimented hoods. All four exterior doors, one in each wing and two in the central block, are original, as are also the weatherboarding and sash.
On the first floor of each of the wings are two rooms, divided by a center cross hall. The north wing contains two parlors; the south, a dining room and “children’s” room. The central connecting block contains one large room, or salon. The second floor repeats the plan of the first floor except that, of the original five bedrooms, the one in the central block has been modernized and subdivided into several rooms.
The interior decoration and trim, of the finest workmanship, is remarkably unaltered and in fine condition. All the walls are covered with simple paneling. The original wide floorboards remain throughout the structure. The hall stairways, especially the north one, with elaborately turned and spiraled balusters, are outstanding examples of early Georgian style. Mantels throughout the house date from the 19th century, but the marble fireplace facing in the west bedroom of the north wing is original.
East of the mansion is the small, one-room, brick, one-story schoolhouse attended by Jefferson, as well as fine boxwood gardens. A short distance to the west of the main house is a plantation street, containing a complex of eight early 18th-century buildings, all in excellent condition and little altered. They include kitchen, tobacco house, three slave quarters, smokehouse, and barn.
Since Tuckahoe passed out of the possession of the Randolph family in 1830, a succession of individuals have owned it. It is still a private residence, not open to the public.
Wythe House, Virginia ∆
Location: On the west side of the Palace Green, between Duke of Gloucester and Prince George Streets, Williamsburg.
This house in Colonial Williamsburg is a superb example of a Georgian brick house. It was the residence of George Wythe from around 1755 until 1791, a period that spanned some of his most active years in politics and jurisprudence. His father-in-law, the noted Virginia architect Richard Taliaferro, designed and built it for him and his second wife about 1755. When Taliaferro died two decades later, Wythe inherited it and resided in it until 1791, when he moved to Richmond. A decade earlier, the house had served as Gen. George Washington’s headquarters prior to the siege of Yorktown.
The outstanding aspects of the little-altered early Georgian structure are its good lines and fine brickwork, in Flemish bond. It is two stories high over a basement and has a hip roof and two interior chimneys. Smaller windows on the upper level create an illusion that the modestly sized house is larger than it actually is. The simple facade is enriched mainly by the broad muntins and wide frames of the windows and a fine paneled double door with rectangular transom. The flat window arches are constructed of gauged brick. Windows, doors, and house corners have rubbed dressings, and a modillioned cornice decorates the eaveline.