Virginia House

Virginia House was assembled here from 1925 to 1928 using materials salvaged from a sixteenth-century manor house, the Thomas Hawkins Priory, in England, along with materials from other historic English homes. Dismantling the historic estate and its removal to the states was controversial in England. The new owners, Alexander and Virginia Weddell, lived in the mansion from 1929 until their deaths in a train accident on New Year's Day 1948. Mr. Weddell served as the U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Argentina from 1933 to 1942. Mr. Weddell served as president of the Virginia Historical Society (VHS) for years; the couple bequeathed the property to the group. Virginia House became a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1990 and has been preserved largely as the Weddell family left it. Virginia House is not open to the public but is used for VHS events and special event rentals.

Alexander Willbourne Weddell (1876-1948) was born in Richmond to Reverend Alexander W. Weddell and Penelope M. Wright Weddell. He married a widow, Elisabeth "Virginia" Atkinson Chase Steedman (1874-1948), in 1923. Alexander and Virginia Weddell purchased two adjacent lots in the Windsor Farms subdivision in 1925 and 1926. The architect for their one-of-a-kind house was Henry Grant Morse of New York. Ground was broken to begin house construction in November 1925 by contractor Allen J. Seville, Inc. The house was completed three years later after construction costs of nearly $237 thousand and was turned over to the Weddells on January 1st, 1929. The Weddells bought an additional 7.77-acre lot in 1936 south of the house lots to incorporate a landscaping plan.

The Virginia House is an amalgamation of mainly British architectural styles ranging from twelfth-century Anglo-Norman to fifteenth-century Tudor to seventeenth-century Flemish to 1940s Classical Revival. The two-story, asymmetrical building with sandstone walls was described in a local newspaper in February 1932 as "nearly like the Warwick Priory as possible... The left wing of the house is an exact reproduction of Sulgrave Manor..." Inside the drawing room of the left wing, many items related to George Washington were on display by the Virginia Historical Society for an American Association of University Women tea celebrating Washington's birthday. British antiques were seen by the guests, including a Jacobean bed, a fifteenth-century suit of armor, and a twelfth-century chest. Sulgrave Manor was the ancestral home of the Washington family. The east bay of the mansion was a reconstruction of the gate tower of the ancestral home of the Spencer family (including Lady Diana), Wormleighton Manor. The house was designed to combine modern conveniences with the antique interior finishes, including seven full bathrooms and central heating.

The Virginia House underwent several changes and repairs over the next several decades. The house was modified in early 1932 to enlarge the master bedroom suite and install a sunroom on the second floor; the plans called for matching Briar Hill sandstone to blend with the house. Some of the original Virginia Buckingham slate roofing tiles were replaced in 1935 with Cotswold stone roofing slate ordered from England; the new slate was slightly lighter in color but thicker. Disintegration of the exterior surface of the house's sandstone walls was noted as early as 1936; the harsher climate of freeze and thaw cycles (compared to that in England) was probably to blame. Mrs. Weddell purchased antique stone columns from a Spanish duke and had them incorporated into a new loggia added to the southwest side of the house in 1945; the column bases were manufactured in Richmond by Economy Cast Stone.

Noted Richmond landscape architect Charles F. Gillette prepared a Tudor-inspired landscape plan for the property in 1927. Over twelve years, the gardens were installed in three phases. First, a Tudor informal style garden was planted on the original one-acre lot; later phases extended southward toward the James River. During 1933 to 1938, Mr. Weddell served as the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina; for the next four years, he was the Ambassador to Spain. On New Year's Day 1948, Alexander and Virginia Weddell were traveling by train to Arizona to spend the winter months. Their train was rammed by another train during a snowstorm in Missouri, and both, along with their English maid, Violet Andrews, were killed instantly. The Weddells bequeathed the property to the Virginia Historical Society; Mr. Weddell had served as the group's president from 1943 until his death.

The Virginia Historical Society (VHS) has maintained the house as a museum, essentially as the Weddells left it. The house is not open to the public, but the group currently allows the house to be rented out for special events. The VHS also holds events in the house and garden tours. A video from a 2023 house tour day is included below.

Anonymous. "Westhampton Acts as Hostess at Va. House." The Richmond Collegian (Richmond) February 26th, 1932. 5-5.

Harnsburger, Douglas. NRHP nomination of Virginia House, 4301 Sulgrave Rd., Richmond, Virginia. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1989.

PL. Memorial for Alexander Willbourne Weddell (1876-1948), Find a Grave. June 3rd, 2002. Accessed March 21st, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6473627/alexander-willbourne-weddell.

PL. Memorial for Elizabeth Virginia Atkinson Chase Weddell (1874-1948), Find a Grave. June 3rd, 2002. Accessed March 21st, 2024. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6473619/elizabeth_virginia_atkinson_weddell.

Virginia Historical Society. Virginia House, Virginia Museum of History and Culture. January 1st, 2024. Accessed March 25th, 2024. https://virginiahistory.org/learn/virginia-house.

Virginia Historical Society. Visit: Virginia House, Virginia Museum of History and Culture. January 1st, 2024. Accessed March 25th, 2024. https://virginiahistory.org/visit#hours.