A House of Many Histories: The Tale of the Virginia House
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- čas přidán 17. 04. 2023
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Join us as we explore the Virginia House, a breathtaking combination of disassembled English Manor Houses brought together under one roof! Witness the incredible story of how this one-of-a-kind mansion was created, and the rich history it contains.
Location: Richmond, Virginia
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Public Domain Photos from: Library of Congress, Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Boston Public Library
CC BY-SA 3.0(creativecommons.org/licenses/... from: Jennifer M. Guild, Media Relations Specialist, Virginia Historical Society, Virginia Historical Society staff
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I had a footstool shipped from England once and it was quite expensive. I can`t imagine what it would cost to ship, oh I don`t know, A WHOLE MANSION!!!! Great story.
Spectacular.
How sad that two such generous and forward thinking people met such a ghastly demise.
I do agree with you 100%, as a friend of mine says: "Life is a bitch".
Yeah, I didn’t see that coming. Like any death, I hope it was quick and at least they were together.
At last, a story with a happy ending! Two observations: 1) The fact that the Weddells were able to dismantle an old historical property and shipped it back to the US speaks volumes about the corrupt nature of the British political system where "miraculously" a considerable number of MPs "changed their minds" and approved the sale and demolition of the house. 2) The Weddells had an impecable taste and a genuine love for the cultural heritage of their state. I am glad their dreams were fulfilled and the Virgina Historical Society takes care of their home. PS: The architect did a magnificent job putting together all those odd bits and creating such a beautiful house.
By the end of WW2 many
of those British manor
houses were falling into
disrepair, being torched
for insurance and by the
1970's being torn down
to avoid the estate taxes.
I suppose that by then the
vast doweries of the Dollar
Princesses had been depleted.
How delightful that the Weddells collected their treasures with the hope of sharing the history of those trinkets, plants, furnishings, whole house sections, or whatever with people yet to be born. That says a lot about the couple and their generosity. I am truly impressed with their accomplishments.
I love the word “ Trinket” 💜
A great story of two people committed to preservation and making sure that the buildings would not only survive but be accessible to the public. I visited there about 20 years ago and loved it!
I think the Weddells have set a good example for today - while some buildings can be saved or restored in their original place and form not all can be. Salvaging and reusing what can be, large or small, is a good way to extend the life of well-made and beautiful things.
Ken, there is yet another house in Richmond that was dismantled and shipped over from England: Agecroft Hall, a Tudor style mansion with beautiful gardens.
Fascinating! So glad they took these buildings and saved them as nearly a third of UK country manor homes were lost after the Second World War. Thank you and hello from Washington, not DC, Washington in the north of England where George Washington’s family came from. 😉🇬🇧👋
Some of those English manor
houses had become very
decrepit. Some were set alight
for the insurance and others torn
down to avoid estate taxes
during the 1970s.
Virginia is full of Counties, Cities, Towns, Streets, etc. whose namesakes are derived from English Locations. I suspect the same is true of the rest of the original 13 Colonies that started the American ball bouncing up and down our Eastern Shores. It really is ashamed that mankind is so destructive when it comes to war.
As I scroll through the comments it's honestly odd to me to see this, from a fellow Brit no less!
The fact is the nouveao riche in the US took advantage of Europe's economic despair after WW2.
There is plenty of stone to quary in the US and the wealthy could have trained it's own artisans to build their own history.
Absconded treasure is all I see.
@@IntriguedLioness
Most rich Americans
did not buy up English
manor and reuse the
stone from those
houses.
btw: After WW2, all
Americans, even rich
ones, were heavily
taxed (until the 1960's)
Some of those grand
American homes (built
during the late 1800's
and before the invention
of the income tax, 1913)
were in the same state
as the British manor
houses, post WW2!
True: An American
bought the *soon to*
*be torn down* (old)
London Bridge. (It
is now in Arizona)
But the Brits were not
going to reuse the
stone from that
bridge. Those stones
would have been used
as land-fill by the Brits.
@@here_we_go_again2571 100% agree thanks, I really couldn’t have said it any better myself. Some people like to just get mad about everything….not all Brits are like them.
I used to maintenance their next door neighbors pool back at my old job. Which is arguably just as crazy of a home. Had the largest acreage of any home within the city limits. Crazy that the CZcams algorithm recommends this to me. Used to drive by here every day
Can’t believe having that much money to buy a house disassembled,ship across the world and then rebuild. 💰💰💰
The houses in the area around The Virginia House are all big estates. Agecroft Hall (which is also a house dismantled and transported from England and also not so exacting in it's restoration) is right behind it and equally as beautiful. The Windsor Farms neighborhood is super high end with the houses going for millions. It's like Beverly Hills of Richmond.
I never knew that Richmond had such homes! I’ll have to take a road trip soon from Virginia Beach.
The neighborhood of Windsor Farms is about 102yrs old...the 2 OLDEST are Agecroft & Virginia House....as well as "Windsor" itself. .......(which was there before the neighborhood). It's too bad "BLUE SHINGLES" is all but gone since '68-'70....meanwhile across town...BROOK HILL is still standing and is inhabited by its original owners distant family.....yes
Richmond....good old Richmond!👍👍...(don't worry...despite "ancient & outdated belief"...Rob is not coming around the corner on Traveller...AT ALL ANY TIME SOON OR...... ANY CENTURY TO COME!! 😝🤫😉)
@@mersea.714 ...it's the STATE CAPITOL....of course we've got old houses!....hundreds of 'em...from Goochland to Varina....Mechanicsville to Petersburg....
My favorite was the grand staircase The room looked so warm and inviting. Also, loved the gardens.
The Virginia House has a fascinating history!!! I'm glad that it still stands today!!!
Love the color photo at the end!!Really highlights the house with the beautiful amazing colors of flowers and shrubbery around the estate. So lovely. A unique home . So sad they lost their lives in a train accident. But left a beautiful legacy for others to enjoy. 💕💕💯💯🇨🇦🇨🇦😊😊👌👌
I love the withdrawal room. I'm so glad that this beautiful home is still standing.
Delightful and yet a very Mishmash combination of different English manor houses. 😊
Fascinating, thank you!
Manual labor must have been dirt cheap back then.
I am usually against selling houses, art... to other countries or even continents but *this house* was probably saved and is accessible to people who would have never had access to it in the UK. So this case is a win for me. 👍🏻
This is still European history.The fact that there was a cash exchange doesn't negate the fact that it took advantage of the economic struggles in Europe after WW2.
@@IntriguedLioness
"Took advantage"
See my other comment
to you.
Remarkably, for all it’s grandure, the house feels cozy. I love the couches that looked worn from sitting in them for years. The dark woodwork that can look imposing in other mansions, looks enveloping in a good way here. Lovely home.
SO GLAD THAT THE HOUSE AND CONTENTS WERE SAVED FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS!
I can see how some people would be disturbed at part of English houses or entire houses being shipped to America, but doing so has preserved so much that might have been lost and especially after World War II when many old English houses were actually blown up. The loss is appalling. I read about this in the book "No Voice From the Hall -- Early Memories of a Country House Snooper" by John Harris, 1998.
Ken , this is a different kind of house and in a much different situation, but would you consider, if possible, making a video about Grey Gardens?
That is a very fair point to make, in hindsight it was probably a great decision to allow the dismantling of these manor houses.
Thank you for the recommendation. I will put Grey Gardens on my list of houses to look into. Cheers!
This one's beautiful, like a dream come true.
So many items from so many time periods. They shouldn't work together, and yet . . . they do. Amazing! Great video!
The post-dissolution house incorporating remains of the Priory of the Holy Sepulchre and St Helen in Warwick, UK, was bought, dismantled and shipped to the USA but was lost at sea.
"Here's a comment is to help keep the algorithm monster fed.
It feeds on comments, replies and likes to both.
Feed it and watch the channel grow! " 🏡🏠🏘
I used to visit here back in college in the 90s. I grew up in VA and love this house. It's gorgeous.
Brilliant Ken!! 👏🏻 👏🏻👏🏻Bravo!
This is an amazing story. 😮
I can’t imagine the cost and time it took to deconstruct, ship and reassemble these buildings and interiors, but I am happy to see that someone with the means to preserve and protect such great architecture and the artistic works of these historical hand crafted elements was accomplished and rests today in Virginia.
I will have to travel and tour this magnificent home!!
Thanks for this episode ❤❤❤
If you ever go to the UK warwick castle is worth a visit. what a dramatic ending to their lives. I liked the library, cosy. thanks for the garden picture.
I have never heard of this place. Thank you. It appears that it would be worth visiting.
fascinating! thank you
Excellent video. For some reason, when I visited Richmond, and went to this house's neighbor, Agecroft Hall (another dismantled and rebuilt English manor), Virginia House was not open.
The library is my favorite room.
I’m excited to add this to my list of road trips this summer. I’m only an hour and a half away. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Fascinating! Loving the "Collective Creation" aspect. I bet their tour guides get all nackered out, with everything there is to speak to mention and point out.
This whole estate is
ever. so. Cool! 🙃
毎回有難う御座います🙏✨歴史の
香りと高貴なるvisionが胸に染み渡る様な感覚を
得られました…素晴らしい感動です。
Wow! Your historical houses research is very much appreciated.
For a relatively new home, weirdly, it's also possibly the 'oldest' house in America!! I wondered why it looked so much like the stately homes I visited as a child here in the UK!
Hi Ken! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing piece of history for us to enjoy! You always keep me in suspense wondering if these places still exist today and for that I am grateful, but I don’t want to spoil the surprises for anyone else.
Glad you enjoyed it
@@ThisHouse You bet Ken!
Love the library.
The library was my favourite room of course, not sure why you even bother to ask any more . . . ;)
Thanks for the video. I never heard of this. It’s only 4 1/2 hours away, maybe I will take a road trip.
Beautiful home! One would think it would have been easier to have an architect measure everything out and then reproduce it in the US. That said as I have seen stated it may not have survived WWII.
I’ve never been, but would like to see this place. If memory serves me correctly, in 2019 Freeman’s Auctions in Philadelphia sold over 450 objects deaccessioned from the collection of this house. It’s definitely on my places to see list. Nice work, Ken!!
Thank Ken, I live in Raleigh, less than 200 miles from this house......and am going to visit friends soon in Richmond.....I can't wait to see what it!
Imagine the purchasing of your house having to be approved by Parliament (Congress). I do wonder how hard it was to get approval to import 100 different species of plants from around the world…
I live 20 mins away from Warwick town in England and I went for a 'Weird Warwick' walk and one of the things they mention is the Priory and the fact that it was shipped to Virginia. Its stunning to see built up again, thr original site is now a huge park called Priory park.
It's a worthy point to note, much 8f what is taught as History, is highly influenced or Produced, by various elites from then to now.
A beautiful job on this. Maybe you'd like to do one on the parallel case of Agecroft Hall -- maybe it's too similar.
Thanks for the recommendation. Cheers!
I drove past Virginia House & Agecroft on Monday!!
Come to Richmond Ken.
It was not the 1st time it won't be the last I history but as a Brit it is hard to see this as "architectural salvage". All of this due to the economic issues that hit Europe after WW2.
I once toured San Simeon and to see entire rooms ... walls, ceilings, flooring all relocated in a hodgepodge of gluttony.. Only to those buildings often razed only a few decades later.....
Hard to see beauty when you know the history.
how cool.......this couple of the leisure class rolled up Conspicuous consumption and Conspicuous waste in one house
🙏🙂
so they removed hisorical buildings and reassembled them somewhere else into a mishmash and called it preservation? some might call it desecration
Better that they were saved and not torn down though. 😅
How do you disassemble a stone house and transport it to another country? Incredible!
👍
More money than sense is what grandma would say
A.. So they didn't do anything that they said they would do. Or did I miss interpret the beginning?
It's open to the public to this day and is probably better off in Virginia than in the UK where some rich bugger would have most likely bought it, stripped it off all its beauty and turned it into a "modern" house.
Horrific ending to such abundant life's
where in Virginia is the house located
It's on Sulgrave Rd in Richmond.
Where in Virginia is this house located?
It is located in Richmond on Sulgrave Rd.
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF THIS AMAZING LANDMARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DECLARE THIS A NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL MONUMENT, AND DECLARE IT A DEFINITE DEMOLITION FREE ZONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Warwick is actually pronounced Warrick.
Thank you for the clarification. Cheers!
it is ironic that moving the home to the United States made have saved it from the 1960s UK wrecking balls
Recycling at its finest.
It’s a shame they both perished in that train derailment
The removal of the house from the UK was gross. If they were truly interested in historical preservation they would have left it there and lived there part time.
The later slapping together of pieces of various other older homes is just…blech.
"Calling it an act of vandalisms against British heritage". Well... it WAS. it absolutely was.
Nope thanks to their predatory taxation, it would hardly have survived. 1,200 country houses were raized.
rather odd to want to mix different manor houses together, very odd! I do love good architecture but am not a fan of mish mashing different styles intermixing. Each manor house was different and a true work of art alone.
It is too much
Seems like a colossal waste of money and effort. Positively Disney-esque.
You're missing the point that these places were saved.
How terrible.They were vandals this is the only thing that can be said about them.Disgrace
Vandalism