President's House (College of William & Mary)

Last updated

President's House
President's House at William & Mary, 2021.jpg
President's House, 2021
President's House (College of William & Mary)
General information
Location Williamsburg, Virginia
CountryUnited States
Coordinates 37°16′16.4″N76°42′30″W / 37.271222°N 76.70833°W / 37.271222; -76.70833
Construction started1732
Owner College of William and Mary in Virginia
Technical details
Floor count2 (original)
3 (renovation of attic) [1]
Floor area5,763 feet [2]

The President's House is the residence of the President of the College of William and Mary in Virginia in Williamsburg, Virginia. Constructed in 1732, the building still serves its original purpose and is among the oldest buildings in Virginia. Since its construction only one of the college's presidents, Robert Saunders Jr., has not moved into the building, which is let for free to the president. [3] The President's House is William & Mary's third-oldest building and the oldest official college presidential residence in the United States. [2]

Contents

Location

The President's House is located on the College's Ancient Campus (also known as "Historic Campus"). Situated northeast of the Wren Building and facing the Brafferton to the building's south, the President's House is considered to be a component of the Wren Building's forecourt. Together, these seventeenth-century structures form the centerpiece of the Virginia Landmarks Register's Williamsburg Historic District. [4]

The three buildings occupy the wedge formed by the confluence of Richmond Road and Jamestown Road. These two roads originate at Richmond (the current capital of Virginia) and Jamestown (the first capital of the Colony of Virginia), intersecting at the western terminus of Duke of Gloucester Street and forming an intersection referred to by locals as "Confusion Corner" or "College Corner". [5] President's House is visible looking west from Duke of Gloucester Street in present-day Merchant's Square of Colonial Williamsburg. [6]

Design

Copying much of the Brafferton design, Henry Cary Jr. built the President's House to sit directly across from the Brafferton on the campus. Each dimension of the President's House is four feet (1.2 m) larger than the Brafferton. [3] A central passage on the ground floor was built with two rooms on each side with a dining room and parlor in the front, austerely mirroring contemporaneous Georgian gentry residences in the Tidewater region. [7] The exterior features a hip roof, five-bay design on Flemish bond brickwork with glazed headers. [8] [3]

During its 1928-1931 renovations as part of John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s efforts to restore Williamsburg to its colonial appearance, several of the outbuildings were rebuilt or altered. Among them was a garage built during Benjamin Ewell's 1854-1888 presidency, which was converted into a firehouse. [9] The grounds of the President's House also include a flower garden and an unpaved driveway.

History

Print depicting Ancient Campus as it would have appeared before an 1859 gutted the Wren Building; the President's House is located to the right William and Mary College before the fire of 1859.jpg
Print depicting Ancient Campus as it would have appeared before an 1859 gutted the Wren Building; the President's House is located to the right

The College of William and Mary in Virginia was chartered on 8 February 1693 by King William III and Queen Mary II, the King and Queen of England, as a seminary for the Church of England in Virginia. [11] Middle Plantation, a halfway point between Jamestown along the James River and the small settlement of Chiskiack along the York River, was selected as the site of this new school. On the site of what is now the President's House ran a wooden palisade built in 1633 that cut through Middle Plantation to prevent Powhatan incursions in the aftermath of the massacre of English settlers in 1622 and the ensuing Second Anglo-Powhatan War. [12] The palisade survived less than a decade but figured largely in the societal memory of the first students at the College over 60 years later. [13]

Construction began on the Sir Christopher Wren Building–named for its potential architect, Christopher Wren–on 8 August 1695 as the College's first building. [14] The construction on the Wren Building was completed in 1699, the year the City of Williamsburg was both established and became the second capital of Virginia, but rebuilding was required following a fire in 1705. [15] [16] In 1717, Governor Alexander Spotswood established a school for Indians. In 1723, the Brafferton was constructed to house this school. [17]

Williamsburg resident Henry Cary Jr. is thought to have been contracted to construct the Brafferton and did extensive work on the Governor's Palace and Capitol. [18] On 31 July 1732, several weeks after completing the Wren Building's chapel wing in 1732, Cary is recorded as having laid the foundation for the President's House. [3] Construction was completed the next year, with the College's first president and founder James Blair moving in. [19] Both the Brafferton and the President's House were built by enslaved laborers hired out to the College. [20]

Among the earliest depictions of the President's House can be found in the Bodleian Plate, a copperplate dating to circa 1735-1740 of indeterminate origin–though perhaps meant to illustrate a book by William Byrd II–and rediscovered in the Bodleian Library archives in 1929 by historian Mary F. Goodwin. [7] [21] [22] The Frenchman's Map, thought to be the product of a French Army officer's survey of Williamsburg near the end of the Revolutionary War, notes the location of the President's House. This map was used extensively by Episcopalian minister W. A. R. Goodwin—the longtime rector of Bruton Parish—and later the Rockefeller-funded restoration effort to chart the site of Williamsburg buildings circa 1782. [23]

In 1781, during the American Revolutionary War, General Charles Cornwallis of the British Army established his headquarters in the President's House. The British troops were evicted shortly thereafter, with French and Continental Army wounded receiving treatment both in the House and the Governor's Palace. Lafayette would eventually take the President's House as his temporary housing and headquarters. [24] Both the President's House and Governor's Palace would burn during the Franco-Continental occupation, with the President's House burning before the Battle of Yorktown and Governor's Palace burning on 22 December. [9] [25] The Kingdom of France donated the necessary funds to restore the President's House in 1786, though the Governor's Palace was not rebuilt until 1934. Minor fires would again damage the building in 1879 (destroying much of the second and third floors), 1916, and 1922 (destroying the roof). [3] [26] The first fire is cited as the basis of most ghost stories relating to the President's House, despite no records of any fatalities associated with the inferno. [27]

Print of the Bodleian Plate, with President's House in the upper right Bodleian Plate.jpg
Print of the Bodleian Plate, with President's House in the upper right

Union Army troops used the House as a headquarters during the 5 May 1862 Battle of Williamsburg in the Peninsular Campaign of the American Civil War. The President's House went unscathed despite a fire reportedly set by the 5th Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment burning the Wren Building. [28] Much of the college's library collection had been move to the President's House in 1861, thus sparing them the flames. [29] Through until the end of the war and for a period after, the President's House was used as a fortified Union regimental headquarters. [30] :333

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. publicly announced his intentions to include the Ancient Campus of the College in his restoration of Williamsburg to its colonial appearance in January 1928. [31] :558 On 15 January 1931, the College handed over the President's House to Rockefeller's Williamsburg Holding Corporation for restoration, with work completed by the end of the summer. [31] :559

Every President of the United States from Woodrow Wilson to Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the President's House, as did Winston Churchill. [3] Queen Elizabeth II was a guest at the President's House twice: in 1957 and May 2007, as part of celebrations for the 350th and 400th anniversaries respectively of the establishment of the Jamestown Colony. [32]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williamsburg, Virginia</span> Independent city in Virginia, United States

Williamsburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is bordered by James City County on the west and south and York County on the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College of William & Mary</span> Public university in Williamsburg, Virginia, US

The College of William & Mary in Virginia, is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III and Queen Mary II, it is the second-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and the ninth-oldest in the English-speaking world. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High Research Activity". In his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America's Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities, Richard Moll included William & Mary as one of the original eight "Public Ivies". The university is also one of the original nine colonial colleges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colonial Williamsburg</span> Historic district of Williamsburg, Virginia, US

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Its 301-acre (122 ha) historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions. The historic area includes three main thoroughfares and their connecting side streets that attempt to suggest the atmosphere and the circumstances of 18th-century Americans. Costumed employees work and dress as people did in the era, sometimes using colonial grammar and diction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruton Parish Church</span> Historic church in Virginia, United States

Bruton Parish Church is located in the restored area of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. It was established in 1674 by the consolidation of two previous parishes in the Virginia Colony, and remains an active Episcopal parish. The building, constructed 1711–15, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as a well-preserved early example of colonial religious architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wren Building</span> Historic building of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia

The Wren Building is the oldest building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Along with the Brafferton and President's House, these buildings form the College's "Ancient Campus." With a construction history dating to 1695, it is the oldest academic building still standing in the United States and among the oldest buildings in Virginia. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capitol (Williamsburg, Virginia)</span> United States historic place

The Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia housed both Houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the Council of State and the House of Burgesses of the Colony of Virginia from 1705, when the capital was relocated there from Jamestown, until 1780, when the capital was relocated to Richmond. Two capitol buildings served the colony on the same site: the first from 1705 until its destruction by fire in 1747; the second from 1753 to 1780.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Madison (bishop)</span> American bishop

James Madison was the first bishop of the Diocese of Virginia of The Episcopal Church in the United States, one of the first bishops to be consecrated to the new church after the American Revolution. He also served as the eighth president of the College of William and Mary. In 1780, Madison was elected to the American Philosophical Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brafferton (building)</span> Historic building of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA

The Brafferton is a building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Built in 1723 and among the oldest buildings in Virginia, it was built as a school for Virginian Indians. The Brafferton is southeast of the Wren Building and faces the President's House. The three buildings were restored by the Colonial Williamsburg project during the early 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Williamsburg, Virginia</span>

The history of Williamsburg, Virginia dates to the 17th Century. First named Middle Plantation, it changed its name to Williamsburg in 1699.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alumni House (College of William & Mary)</span>

The Alumni House, formerly known as the Bright House, is a 19th-century building located on the College of William & Mary's campus in the middle of historic Williamsburg, Virginia. The home was originally situated on a farm called "New Hope" owned by Samuel Bright and his family and at that time on the outskirts of the town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the College of William & Mary</span>

The history of the College of William & Mary can be traced back to a 1693 royal charter establishing "a perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and the good arts and sciences" in the British Colony of Virginia. It fulfilled an early colonial vision dating back to 1618 to construct a university level program modeled after Cambridge and Oxford at Henricus. A plaque on the Wren Building, the college's first structure, ascribes the institution's origin to "the college proposed at Henrico." It was named for the reigning joint monarchs of Great Britain, King William III and Queen Mary II. The selection of the new college's location on high ground at the center ridge of the Virginia Peninsula at the tiny community of Middle Plantation is credited to its first President, Reverend Dr. James Blair, who was also the Commissary of the Bishop of London in Virginia. A few years later, the favorable location and resources of the new school helped Dr. Blair and a committee of 5 students influence the House of Burgesses and Governor Francis Nicholson to move the capital there from Jamestown. The following year, 1699, the town was renamed Williamsburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. A. C. Chandler</span> American historian

Julian Alvin Carroll Chandler, usually cited as J. A. C. Chandler, was an American historian, author and educator. He is best known as the 18th president of The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he served as the successor to retiring fellow educator and author Lyon Gardiner Tyler. Dr. Chandler is credited with transforming the institution from a small, struggling liberal arts college for men into a modern coeducational institution of higher learning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Bede Catholic Church (Williamsburg, Virginia)</span> Catholic parish and national shrine

Saint Bede Catholic Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, is a Catholic parish in the Diocese of Richmond. The National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, located adjacent to the campus of the College of William and Mary, is a part of the parish. It was the first Catholic church in Williamsburg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williamsburg Bray School</span> School for Black children in Virginia, United States

The Williamsburg Bray School was a school for free and enslaved Black children founded in 1760 in Williamsburg, Virginia. Opened at Benjamin Franklin's suggestion in 1760, the school educated potentially hundreds of students until its closure in 1774. The house it first occupied is believed to be the "oldest extant building in the United States dedicated to the education of Black children".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bodleian Plate</span> Copperplate depicting colonial-era Williamsburg, Virginia

The Bodleian Plate is a copperplate depicting several colonial buildings of 18th-century Williamsburg, Virginia, as well as several types of native flora, fauna, and American Indians. Following its 1929 rediscovery in the archives of the Bodleian Library, it was used extensively in John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg. The plate has been tied to Williamsburg resident William Byrd II and may have been produced by English illustrator Eleazar Albin and engraver John Carwitham. It is dated to the 1730s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Matoaka</span> Lake in Williamsburg, Virginia

Lake Matoaka is a mill pond on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, located in the College Woods. Originally known both as Rich Neck Pond for the surrounding Rich Neck Plantation and Ludwell's Mill Pond for Philip Ludwell who owned it, Lake Matoaka was constructed around 1700 to power a gristmill. The pond was renamed after acquisition by the college to bear the Powhatan name for Pocahontas. Construction projects by the Civilian Conservation Corps, college, and others have contributed to the lake becoming a site for outdoor entertainment and recreation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved</span> Memorial commemorating those enslaved by the College of William and Mary

Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved is a memorial on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was dedicated in 2022 to those enslaved by the university over a period of 172 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campus of the College of William & Mary</span>

The College of William & Mary has maintained a campus in what is now Williamsburg, Virginia, since 1693. The cornerstone of the Wren Building, then known as the College Building and the oldest surviving academic building in the United States, was laid in 1695. The college's 18th-century campus includes the College Building, the President's House, and Brafferton–all of which were constructed using slave labor. These buildings were altered and damaged during the succeeding centuries before receiving significant restorations by the Colonial Williamsburg program during the 1920s and 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tucker Hall</span> Academic hall at the College of William & Mary

St. George Tucker Hall is an academic building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Built in 1908–1909 from a design by Cady & See, it was William & Mary's first freestanding library and sits on what is now known as Old Campus. It is an early example of Colonial Revival architecture in Williamsburg that predated the Colonial Williamsburg restoration and reconstruction efforts. A 1928 expansion of Tucker Hall was designed by Charles M. Robinson, with a further renovation performed in 2009. The building is now named for St. George Tucker, who taught at the college. A statue of James Monroe, a U.S. president and alumnus of the college, was installed in front the hall in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ewell Hall</span> Academic hall at the College of William & Mary

Ewell Hall is an academic building on the campus of the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The building was constructed in 1925–1926 on what is now Old Campus, across from Tucker Hall on the Sunken Garden. It was originally named Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall for Phi Beta Kappa, an honor society founded at the College of William & Mary and the oldest such society in the United States. John D. Rockefeller Jr. attended the hall's 1926 dedication; during this visit, W. A. R. Goodwin convinced Rockefeller to participate in a restoration program that became Colonial Williamsburg.

References

  1. "W&M president's house receives top ranking for looks and history". Inside Business . Norfolk, VA: The Virginian-Pilot. 16 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  2. 1 2 Frieswick, Kris (4 October 2018). "The Multimillion-Dollar Homes on Campus Where Rent is Free". The Wall Street Journal . New York City: Dow Jones & Company. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The President's House". wm.edu. Williamsburg, Virginia: The College of William and Mary in Virginia. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021.
  4. "137-0013 Wren Building (Old College Yard, College of William and Mary)". Richmond, VA: Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 19 March 2019. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2021.
  5. Kale, Wilford (29 April 2021). "Confusion Corner or College Corner? Williamsburg intersection is source of debate–and bafflement for drivers". The Virginia Gazette . Williamsburg, VA. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  6. ""Confusion Corner" or "College Corner"". williamsburg.kspot.org. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  7. 1 2 Lounsbury, Carl (2000). "Ornaments of Civic Aspiration: The Public Buildings of Williamsburg". In Robert P. Maccubbin (ed.). Williamsburg, Virginia: A City Before the State, 1699–1999. Williamsburg, VA. p. 30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. "College of William and Mary, President's House, Colonial Williamsburg". Andrew Dickson White Architectural Photographs Collection. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Library, Cornell University. c. 1930. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  9. 1 2 Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries. "President's House, Constructed 1732". tribetrek.wm.edu. Williamsburg, VA . Retrieved 14 May 2021 via TribeTrek.
  10. Brannock, Phoebe M. (31 October 2017). "Truth stretched and legend upheld". Williamsburg, VA: College of William & Mary . Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  11. William III of England; Mary II of England. "Royal Charter of the College of William and Mary". Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021 via Encyclopedia Virginia.
  12. "Frontier Forts in Virginia". Virginia Places. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  13. Levy, Philip (2004). "A New Look at an Old Wall. Indians, Englishmen, Landscape, and the 1634 Palisade at Middle Plantation". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 112 (3). Virginia Historical Society: 226–265. JSTOR   4250194 . Retrieved 17 May 2021 via JSTOR.
  14. "Wren Building". Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  15. "History of the Wren Building". wm.edu. Williamsburg, VA: The College of William and Mary in Virginia. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  16. "History". williamsburgva.gov. Williamsburg, VA: City of Williamsburg. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  17. "American Indian Education in Virginia: The Brafferton School". Virginia Indian Archive. Virginia Indian Heritage Program, Virginia Humanities and University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  18. Lounsbury, Carl (12 February 2021). "Cary, Henry (d. by 1750)". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities and University of Virginia . Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  19. Walls, John (26 January 2017). "Where We Live: The President's House". Williamsburg Yorktown Daily. Williamsburg, VA . Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  20. Meyers, Terry (14 December 2020). "Slavery at the College of William and Mary". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  21. "The Bodleian Print". wm.edu. Williamsburg, VA: The College of William and Mary in Virginia . Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  22. "Engraved Copperplate of Colonial-Era Williamsburg". Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  23. Lombardi, Michael J. (Autumn 2007). "In Search of the Frenchman's Map". Colonial Williamsburg Journal. Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation . Retrieved 14 May 2021 via research.colonialwilliamsburg.org.
  24. Kale, Wilford (2017). From Student to Warrior: A Military History of The College of William and Mary. Williamsburg, VA: Botetourt Press.
  25. Martin, Marianne; Cooke, Donna (22 January 2020). "Celebrate the Governor's Palace 85th Anniversary". Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  26. "Fires". Special Collections Research Center Wiki. Williamsburg, VA: Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  27. "Living on a haunted campus". The Flat Hat . Williamsburg, VA. 31 October 2011. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  28. Erickson, Mark St. John (14 August 2013). "The Civil War at the College of William and Mary". Daily Press . Williamsburg, VA. Archived from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  29. Jennings, John Melville (1947). "Notes on the Original Library of the College of William and Mary in Virginia, 1693-1705". The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America. 41 (3). Bibliographical Society of America: 240. JSTOR   24298578.
  30. Walker, Henry C. (1993). "Part III: Chapter 1". The College of William & Mary: A History: Volume I. Williamsburg, VA: King and Queen Press, Society of the Alumni, The College of William and Mary in Virginia.
  31. 1 2 Sherman, Richard B. (1993). "Part V: Chapter 1". The College of William & Mary: A History: Volume II. Williamsburg, VA: King and Queen Press, Society of the Alumni, The College of William and Mary in Virginia.
  32. Gene Nichol (24 April 2007). "Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II returns to William & Mary May 4, 2007". wm.edu. Williamsburg, VA: The College of William and Mary in Virginia . Retrieved 19 May 2021.