Originally constructed circa 1750 by William Byrd II—the founder of Richmond, Westover is noteworthy for its architectural details, secret passages, magnificent gardens, and perfect setting in the landscape. It took the artistic ideals of its period and adapted them well to the style of living in Colonial Virginia.
Westover, one of Virginia's oldest and grandest plantation mansions, is considered perhaps America's premier example of colonial Georgian architecture and the quintessential James River plantation house. Georgian design elements are exemplified in Westover's symmetry, elegant proportions, distinctive brickwork and pedimented entrances.
Notable features include formal doorways in Portland stone on both main façades; a steeply pitched hip roof, one of only two known clasp-purlin types in the state; an off-center main hall and a finely detailed interior with full-length paneling and enriched plaster ceilings. The land on which Westover sits was purchased by William Byrd I, "The Black Swan of Westover," in 1688.
The house was built c. 1750 by the Byrd family. William Byrd II, known as the founder of Richmond, was instrumental in surveying the dividing line between Virginia and North Carolina, as well as authoring a book recounting this experience. Byrd is also known for the diaries he kept in which he documents his life in Virginia and England. His library at Westover was the largest in the colonies, with 4,000 volumes. The property remained in the Byrd family until 1817, and both William Byrd I and II are buried here.
Westover is situated beneath 150-year-old tulip poplar trees and alongside ancient boxwood. The grounds also include formal gardens, the hedge featuring a rare clairvoyee, plantation outbuildings such as a privy and icehouse, a collection of barns of varying ages and three sets of elaborate 18th-century English wrought-iron gates, among the most elaborate in America. An expansive lawn meets the banks of the James River. The site of the first Westover Church stood 400 yards west of the house, and includes the burials site of a number of prominent Virginians, including the first Benjamin Harrison of Berkeley.
Westover's renaissance began in 1899 when Mrs. Clarise Sears Ramsey, a Byrd descendent, purchased the property and hired the New York restoration architect William H. Mesereau to modernize the house. Mesereau designed the hyphens connecting the main house to the previously separate dependencies, creating one long building. Mesereau also built the new library dependency to the east on the site of William Byrd's library, which had been destroyed during the Civil War when Major General George B. McClellan encamped at Westover. Westover was acquired in 1921 by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Crane. The Cranes left the property to their daughter Mrs. Bruce Crane Fisher, the current owner. In 1974 a preservation easement was placed on 636 acres.
Westover is open daily for self-guided grounds tours; tours of the house are offered during Historic Garden Week, group tours by appointment. There is an admission fee (combination ticket with Edgewood, North Bend and Piney Grove available).
Please visit the Westover Plantation website for further information.
Comment
You Might Also Like
The Battle of Drewry's Bluff
On May 15, 1862 a Federal flotilla led by the ironclads USS Monitor and USS Galena made their way up the James River to bombard the Confederate capital at Richmond. The fate of that city was in the hands of a few defenders at Drewry's Bluff
The Origins of Richmond
With its strategic location at the Falls of the James, Richmond has been an important political, military and economic hub since before the arrival of Europeans. It was the capital of the Powhatan tribe long before it was the capital of the Virginia …
James River and Kanawha Canal
An ambitious project that George Washington proposed as a young man surveying the mountains of western Virginia, the Canal succeeded in linking the Piedmont and Tidewater regions. It was a driver of economic growth for Virginia, but was ultimately …
Flowerdew Hundred Plantation
The site of the first windmill in British America, Flowerdew has seen it's share of history as the commonwealth took shape. This land has been attacked, shelled, burned, divided, sold, and reunited. General Ulysses Grant once crossed the James on a …