April 15, 2008

Peyton Randolph House Williamburg VA



This small photo was "borrowed" off the web, but the next two were taken yesterday when my daughter and i visited Colonial Williamsburg. This is her standing in front of the Peyton-Randolph house.
We did not go in the house because it is a ticket only entry, but I have this place on my list of must see. I hope to go back soon and take more photos.

 
Posted by Picasa

FRONT


SIDE



In Williamsburg Colonial Village, the home faces market square, and is one of the original structures. This two story Colonial mansion was built in 1715 by Sir John Randolph. His family lived there throughout the 1700's, and was eventually sold to someone outside of the family. In 1824, Mrs. Mary Monroe Peachy owned the house. One of her children died after falling from the tree.

After the Civil War, a young orphaned soldier stayed with the Peachy family while he went to William and Mary College. He came down with tuberculosis and died there.

Many have heard the shattering of a mirror and the sound of heavy footsteps. In an upstairs room residents have awakened in the middle of the night, to see a white, shimmering, male figure.


Late at night in the small rear 2nd floor bedroom there have been reports of a thin old lady in a gown and laced night cap. Visitors reported that she would wake them up politely by calling them by their names, and then she would wring her hands and cry. Could this be Mrs. Peachy?

Allegedly, the Peyton Randolph House is home to as many as 23 ghosts. Many of the house’s most famous ghost stories center on children. In one such story, a little girl was killed after her ghostly best friend, Elizabeth, grew angry with her and threw her down the stairs. Doctors claimed that superhuman force would have been required to cause such a death, given that she had only fallen from the second floor

Histrical information on the house:


The original structure of the Peyton Randolph House was built in 1715. Colonial Williamsburg's primary restoration of the home began in October 1938 and was completed in April 1940. More restoration of the main section was undertaken in June 1967 and was finished 12 months later. The center and west portions of the house opened for exhibition on July 1, 1968.
Original structure located at the corner of Nicholson and North England Streets
Built in 1715 by William Robertson
Sir John Randolph purchased the west wing in 1721
House willed to son Peyton Randolph
First restoration 1938-1940
Further restoration began in 1967
Center and west portions opened in 1968
Construction of outbuildings began in 1997
Rochambeau, Lafayette, and Washington among notable guests at the home

The deep red Peyton Randolph House is one of the oldest, most historic, and without doubt most beautiful of Colonial Williamsburg's original 18th-century homes.

The west wing of the impressive house has stood at the corner of Nicholson and North England Streets since about 1715. Among the historic figures that took shelter in the house were General Rochambeau and the Marquis de Lafayette.



William Robertson built the house that eventually became the west wing of the Peyton Randolph house. Sir John Randolph purchased the west wing in 1721. He bought the east lot for £50 on July 20, 1724 and had a home constructed there as well.

Sir John's son, Peyton Randolph, built a spacious and well-appointed two-story central section between the two houses. A hall with a large roundheaded window and a grand staircase connect single rooms on each floor. The first-floor parlor measures 19 feet square, and the bed chamber above has the same dimensions.



The southern face of the center section matches the appearance of the 29-foot-square clapboard house that makes up the west wing. The low-pitched hip roof of the west wing was extended across the addition but ends abruptly when it reaches the high gable of the dormered roof on the east wing.

Although the west and center sections of the house were connected by doors on both floors, there was no opening through the brick wall to the east wing. The east wing may have served as an office or a service building, or it could have been rented out. Demolished in the 19th century, the east wing was reconstructed by Colonial Williamsburg after the property was purchased in 1938.

The roof of the west wing was designed to funnel rain to two concealed two-log gutters, which apparently carried the water to a cistern. Only traces remain of this contrivance that may have leaked and was later covered by the roof. A chimney rises through the center of the wing, venting corner fireplaces in three rooms on each floor. The stairway passage is located in the southwest corner of each floor.



The center section contains some of the best surviving paneling in the city — some of it walnut — while unusually fine brass hinges and locks trim the parlor doors. The floor is mostly made of original edge-cut pine

Outbuildings supported household activity

A full complement of outbuildings stood to the north (in back), including a two-story brick kitchen, a stable for 12 horses, a coach house, and a dairy.



Sir John Randolph, the only colonial born in Virginia to be knighted, died in 1737. He left the house to his wife, Susannah Beverley Randolph, until their second son, Peyton, reached the age of 24. Their first son, Beverley, inherited property in Gloucester County; their third son, John, inherited acreage on the city's southern edge; and their daughter, Mary, received a dowry of £1,000. Susannah Beverley Randolph remained in the home until her death sometime after 1754.

Peyton Randolph, Speaker of Virginia's House of Burgesses in the years leading to the Revolution, brought his wife, Betty Harrison Randolph, to the home by 1751. It became a hub of political activity, and its owner Peyton Randolph was elected the presiding officer of the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia in 1774. An inventory taken at Peyton Randolph's death in 1775 indicates how the house was furnished and equipped.

Widow Betty Randolph opened her home to French general Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, when he arrived in Williamsburg with General George Washington to prepare for the siege of Yorktown in 1781. The house served as the French headquarters until they moved to the field.


Peyton and Betty Randolph had no children and, after her death and according to directions in Betty Randolph’s will, the house was sold at auction on February 19, 1783. A newspaper advertisement described it as "pleasantly situated on the great square." It was conveyed to the highest bidder, Joseph Hornsby, on February 21, and the proceeds were divided among Betty Randolph's legatees.

By 1824, the house was in the possession of Mary Monroe Peachy. She had the honor that year of lodging Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, when he visited the city on October 20 and 21 during a tour of America.

Colonial Williamsburg's primary restoration of the home began in October 1939 and was completed in April 1940. More restoration of the main section was undertaken in June 1967 and was finished 12 months later. The center and west portions of the house opened for exhibition on July 1, 1968.

Labels: , , ,

8 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Hi! i just read your blog and thought you might be interested in some crazy full body apparition pictures my mom and I took at the Peyton Randolph House last summer. If you're interested email me at dagirl84@hotmail.com. Thanks,
Alicia

3/9/09, 10:51 AM  
Blogger Tresca said...

I totally understand your interest in the historic area of colonial Williamsburg. I have visited many times and always sense multiple ghosts at every location.

8/27/09, 12:45 AM  
Blogger Carrie said...

I adore Williamsburg. I stood outside of the Peyton Randolph house on a few occasions, night & day in attempts to capture claimed apparition in an upstairs window. No luck...yet.

1/8/10, 8:17 PM  
Blogger Tresca said...

I hope to visit again in the Spring.Perhaps we could organize a group outing. The area is totally spellbinding to me!

1/9/10, 9:35 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I visited his place two summers ago. I live in Colorado and went to Virginia with my school. I was the second to last person in the group going up the stairs. Both me and the person behind me had some crazy experiences going up the stairs and at the top when we were waiting to get into the room on the left. If you would like to hear them email me at dpourier97@gmail.com. Ever since this trip I have been interested in the supernatural. I also had experiences at the College of William and Mary and a castle. I don't remember what it's called but its the one with a maze in the garden. Please rail me, I would love to share my experiences!

4/17/10, 5:39 PM  
Blogger Kat Ballentine Shepherd said...

We were at the Peyton Randolph House yesterday afternoon on a guided tour. We were at the head of the group as we prepared to enter the passage connecting the main house to the kitchen,etc.,
the large door swung open. The docent who had been talking about Susannah's management of the house exclaimed,'Oh,the door just opened.' There was no wind or any noticeable reason for this heavy door to swing open completely and abruptly.

2/19/12, 3:17 AM  
Blogger Kat Ballentine Shepherd said...

We were there yesterday afternoon on a guided tour. As we prepared to enter a doorway leading to the passage between the main house and the kitchen, the docent was talking about Susannah Peyton's managerial abilities. The large door swung completely and abruptly open without assistance. The docent exclaimed, "Oh! The door just opened."

2/19/12, 3:28 AM  
Blogger Dave said...

Hello, I visited the Peyton Randolph house this past Thursday evening (5 April). Took some stills through the far left front window on the first floor. Captured a mist at the bottom of the stairs, plus what appears to be the face of a bearded man imprinted on the far left doorway. Also captured some orbs outside the building. If you'd like me to send you these stills, please contact me at my e-mail address: bennett5668@sbcglobal.net

Thanks, Dave

4/7/12, 11:12 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home