Ten miles west of Richmond, Virginia lies the historical Tuckahoe Plantation. It has survived for over 250 years and stands as the most historically intact plantation in North America. Tuckahoe was built of wood in the early eighteenth century with the architectural idea of the early Georgian Period style.

The first owner of the Tuckahoe was William Randolph. William Randolph purchased the 10,000 acres and built a mansion named Turkey Island. He had seven sons and two daughters, one son inherited the land where Tuckahoe was established. When William Randolph died at Turkey Island April 12, 1711, Thomas Mann Randolph the I inherited Tuckahoe. Later during the Civil War, the McClelland Union forces destroyed the Turkey Island mansion in 1862.

Thomas Mann Randolph I was the first to have named the land Tuckahoe, after a flower. He had only one son named Thomas Mann Randolph III who inherited Tuckahoe after his father’s death on November 20, 1793. Thomas Mann Randolph III fell quickly into financial difficulties and put Tuckahoe up for mortgage. On January 12, 1830, the Tuckahoe Plantation passed out of the hands of the Randolph family when 588 acres of land in Henrico and Goochland Counties, including all of Tuckahoe except the family graveyard, was sold to Hezekiah Wight for eleven thousand dollars.

Tuckahoe started as a single square house and later added the wings to complete the H-shaped design it has today. The original wing on the north contains two single rooms with a hall that partitioned the two rooms. The most unique and remarkable architectural feature of the interior of Tuckahoe is the house’s north stair. The stair has a newel post carved with a garland of flowers and leaves, and twisted columns used for balusters. The out buildings, square made of wood with pyramidal roofs, are also a rare design of American architecture. The office and the schoolhouse, where Thomas Jefferson went to classes, were buildings that represent the exceptional outbuilding paired structures.

Today, Tuckahoe is still active and open to tours by appointment only. Tuckahoe also supports wedding receptions and events at a cost. Also over the past couple of years some movies were filmed at Tuckahoe. For more information on Tuckahoe today please visit their website at historictuckahoe.