Virginia Country from A to Z: C is for Colonial

Jamestown, Virginia, founded in 1607, was the first permanent English colony in America.  It served as the seat of the colonial government in Virginia until 1698, when the capital was moved from the marshy James River area to Middle Plantation- renamed Williamsburg.  There, the first American structure was built, to which the term "capitol" was applied.

The contractor Henry Cary also built the College of William and Mary's Christopher Wren building, the oldest academic structure still in use in America.  Williamsburg was constructed using formal city planning principles.  The Duke of Glouster street is its major axis with the college of William and Mary at the West end, and the Capitol at the East end.

The Governor's Palace is a 3-story, five bay, brick Georgian house laid in Flemish bond pattern, with two one-and-a-half story gabled roof dependencies on either side running perpendicular to the main structure.  The house was considered a "taste maker" in the colonies, which Virginia planters building their own homes sought to match or exceed.

Some of my favorite houses at Williamsburg, are the simple, elegant central passage houses which became known as Virginia Colonial, Tidewater cottages, or Southern Colonial in Maryland and the Carolinas.  These houses were heavily influenced by formal Georgian and Palladian styles, with an emphasis on symmetry.  The shutters became a characteristically American addition.

Clay for brick was plentiful in Virginia and it is used in the construction of many historic houses here.  Carter's Grove is a 400-acre estate on the James River built in 1750 in the American Georgian style, adapted for hot, humid summers.

Colonial town gardens were often surrounded by walls, fences or hedges for privacy, and followed a symmetrical pattern for beauty, economy and ease of use.  This pleasing style is still practical on small city or suburban lots today.  Early Williamsburg gardeners with their conservative English taste, ensured that the gardening style of late 17th and early 18th century England thrived in America, combining Old World plants from back home with plants native to the Tidewater region.  John Randolph, a distinguished Virginian, wrote the first American book on vegetable gardening.   

    

At Tuckahoe plantation, Thomas Jeffereson's boyhood home, espaliered pear trees planted along rail fences define garden spaces.  

The Southern colonial aesthetic and pastoral tradition continues to inspire design in Virginia.  This Georgian style home was designed by Charles Faudree.  Schumacher's The Aviary from their discontinued Colonial Williamsburg collection is my favorite wallpaper.  

I remember what seemed like miles of it in the gold colorway, in a dramatic double-height entry hall in one of my family's houses.  When the house was eventually sold, I learned that the buyers chose it because they fell in love with that foyer.

Pared down elegance in an Albemarle County Colonial Revival estate.  This home was recently restored by renowned Madison Spencer Architects.

We think that country life is more a state of mind, than a state of, well... State.

Whether your home is the city, by the sea, in the mountains or Farm town, USA, country life is about how you approach living your day, how you feel about your home, and how you care for yourself and your neighbors.

Virginia Country Life from A-Z is a series inspired by our homes in Virginia.  It's about some things and people we love, and some ideas for making your life a little more country- wherever you are.

You might also enjoy:

Georgian Style here.

Further Reading: