Tuckahoe Plantation, Richmond, United States

Tuckahoe, also known as Tuckahoe Plantation, is located on Route 650 near Manakin, Virginia overlapping both Goochland and Henrico counties, six miles from the town of the same name Built in the first half of the 18th century, it is a well-preserved example of a colonial plantation house, and is particularly distinctive as a colonial prodigy house Thomas Jefferson is also recorded as having spent some of his childhood here It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1969

Tuckahoe Plantation, boyhood home of Thomas Jefferson, is a National Historic Landmark and is protected by a preservation easement donated by the owners It is considered by architectural historians to be among the finest early 18th-century plantation homes in America

A guest at Tuckahoe in the late 1700s commented that the house seemed “to be built solely to answer the purpose of hospitality” Built between 1730 and 1740 by William Randolph, this unique home and its outbuildings have persisted through a rich American history After William and his wife’s deaths, Peter and Jane Jefferson moved to Tuckahoe with their children, including two-year-old Thomas They cared for the plantation and the Randolph orphans until 1752, when Thomas Mann Randolph became of age Thomas Jefferson left Tuckahoe Plantation at nine-years-old, but returned many times as an adult

Construction of the home began by Thomas Randolph around 1714 William Randolph, Thomas’ son, built a two-story, four room home in 1733 around the existing structure This wing features pine and black walnut paneling with exquisite carvings and moldings William then added a center hall and south wing, creating a unique “H”-shaped, which were completed by 1740 William and his wife, Maria Judith Page, had three children, two daughters and a son, but his wife died in 1744 William Randolph’s cousin Jane married Peter Jefferson, and they were close friends Before William Randolph died in 1745, he added a codicil to his will asking that Peter Jefferson come to Tuckahoe Plantation and care for his three orphaned children until his son Thomas Mann Randolph came of age The Jeffersons moved from Shadwell in Charlottesville to Tuckahoe Plantation with their four daughters and two-year-old son Thomas The Jeffersons lived in the “H” shape home with their own five children and the three Randolph orphans until 1752 During the seven years of the Jefferson residency, young Thomas was tutored in a one-room schoolhouse with his sisters and Randolph cousins

In 1792, Thomas Mann Randolph III was born (not to be confused with his half-brother, Thomas Mann Randolph Jr who was born in 1768) To the dismay of Randolph Jr, Randolph III (also called “the imposter”) inherited Tuckahoe and kept the plantation until 1820 Since then, it has continued to be privately owned The house is currently occupied by owner/manager Addison B Thompson and his wife The grounds are open for self-guided tours The house is open for private tours by appointment and may also be rented for private events

Tuckahoe Plantation established in 1733 and has hosted both vegetable and pleasure gardens ever since. One of the original gardens featured in the 1929 historic Garden Week. The gardens at the plantation have continued to grow and flourish.

Though historic records of gardens at Tuckahoe Plantation are sparse, it is known that to the East of the house has always been the site of pleasure gardens. The Boxwood maze was well over 100 years old when it was destroyed by the English Box decline in the 1970’s.

The “Ghost Walk,” a Boxwood-lined path, still exists today and marks the grand dimension of the former Boxwood maze. To the NorthEast of the Boxwoods are the Randolph, Wight, and Baker family graveyards. The Memorial Garden, just South of the Randolph family crypt, was designed by Charles Gillette in 1949 (picture of memorial garden)

North of the Boxwood maze was historically the vegetable yard of Tuckahoe. Today, this space is filled with the family’s vegetable garden, rows of shrubs, and extensive flower beds.

A parterre herb garden is situated to the West of the house adjacent to the Old Kitchen. While delighting the senses, it reflects the colonial revival period with formal Boxwoods and heirloom plantings of annuals and perennials.

In spring, the lawn is dotted with Spring flowers and crocus under the wide canopy of old Oaks, Elms, and Hackberry trees. Historic plantings of daffodils line the approach to the house from March through mid-April.

As Spring blooms fade, Summer annuals and perennials take stage with bright bold colors. Old-fashioned favorites such as Love-in-a-Mist are visually stimulating, while cherished old roses perfume the air.

The two-story wood structure sits in its original spot, the only Randolph home to not be relocated The structure forms an “H,” with wings mirroring each other and connected by a central corridor The entrances to the house are reached by flights of stairs and two porches The stoop is covered by a projected pediment supported by simple wooden posts and is framed by a wooden railing To either side of the entrance is a pair of windows as well as a central window over the entrance, each with dark shutters Each two-sashed window contains 9 panes of glass The gabled roof rests on a simple cornice line with dentil moldings A large brick chimney rises from either side of the home

The grounds around the house include outbuildings: the schoolhouse where Thomas Jefferson was educated, a kitchen house, three slave quarters, smokehouse, storehouse, stable, and the cemeteries of the Randolph and Wight families