Windsor Farms is a 20th-century neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia , of primarily Colonial Revival design.
36-517: Designed in 1926, Windsor Farms is one of Richmond's earliest planned neighborhoods, modeled after an English village, with winding streets and English-inspired names like Dover, Canterbury, Berkshire, and so on. There are a variety of architectural styles, the most prevalent being Colonial Revival and Cape Cod. Lots range from half an acre to 23 acres (93,000 m). Windsor Farms has several historical buildings, notably Virginia House and Agecroft Hall. Its Farms borders are described by Cary Street Road to
72-591: A house museum . The hall was one of three manor houses owned by the Prestwich family from 1292 when Edmund Crouchback , Earl of Lancaster , granted land on the banks of the River Irwell in Lancashire to Adam de Prestwich. In 1350, Johanna de Tetlow, daughter of Alice de Prestwich and Jordan de Tetlow, married Richard de Langley of Middleton after the deaths of her parents and brothers – possibly from
108-832: A barn for up to six months. From the very beginning, the Weddells planned on deeding the house to the Virginia Historical Society and allocating the west wing of the structure as a museum once it was rebuilt in Virginia. The Weddells also intended the structure to become the society's new headquarters. Virginia House was constructed in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond by the General Contracting firm of Allen J. Saville, Inc., although several different architects were employed during
144-479: A general pardon from Queen Elizabeth . By this time the Langleys were very prosperous and had intermarried with all the great Lancashire families. But Sir Robert and his wife Cecily de Trafford had no son and on his death the property was divided equally between his four daughters. Dorothy, the eldest, married James Assheton from Chadderton . Margaret married John Reddish of Reddish . Catherine married Thomas Legh,
180-670: A grand conference table previously used for board meetings by the Virginia Historical Society. As with the Sulgrave Room, the mantelpiece is made from the Hawkins manor oak and is notably carved with an Old English inscription that reads, "O ye fyre and heate bless ye the Lord." Behind the library paneling is a secret hidden passage, added at Alexander Weddell's request, leading to his private study. The rest of
216-558: A lump sum of £3,500 for the entire remaining structure and secured a deal before the auction was held. The purchase by the Americans caused an outrage in the British press and the Weddells were heavily criticized given that the heritage property was to be demolished. The objection to the purchase was also backed by a Member of Parliament (MP) who proposed that the sale be invalidated in order to prevent this "act of vandalism". However,
252-590: A true English manor house on his 23-acre estate overlooking the James River . Agecroft was dismantled, crated, transported across the Atlantic, and reconstructed in Richmond's Windsor Farms neighborhood – then a fashionable new neighborhood being developed by Williams on his family farm site, which had long been known as "Windsor". The architect, Morse, was retained to oversee the reconstruction. The intention
288-491: A younger son of Sir Piers Legh of Lyme . Anne, his third daughter inherited Agecroft Hall as part of her portion and subsequently married William Dauntesey. Richard Langley's brother, William (1315-1386) was Rector of Middleton. Another brother, was the grandfather of Bishop Thomas Langley who entered the service of John of Gaunt and became Lord Chancellor of England, Keeper of the Privy Seal and Bishop of Durham . He
324-461: Is the Sulgrave Room, a reproduction of the great hall from the Washington family's Sulgrave Manor. The fireplace mantel is made of an oak beam, once used at the original priory. Heavy oak timbers were used to construct the open beam ceiling in this room, which also features mottled plaster walls. The grand second-floor library room is also of major note, with a high cathedralesque ceiling and
360-531: The Greater Richmond Region , Windsor Farms showcases an emphasis of colonial revival architecture and Tudor architecture . This influence is notably seen in two historical homes in the neighborhood: Virginia House and Agecroft Hall. Virginia House was originally constructed in England in the 16th century prior to the existence of colonial Virginia . At the time of Windsor Farms' construction,
396-407: The plague . The name "Agecroft", meaning "field of wild celery" (from ache and croft ) was adopted circa 1376, the old name of Pendlebury being dropped for the manor but not for the village. Subsequently, the Langleys lived at Agecroft Hall until 1561 when the male line failed. The Langleys were a powerful local family for several centuries with major land holdings across the area. Robert Langley
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#1732765443374432-405: The "Church Green", which serves as a center meeting place for the residents. This Virginia -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Virginia House Virginia House is a manor house on a hillside overlooking the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia , United States . The house was constructed from the materials of
468-553: The 16th-century Priory House, Warwick in Warwickshire , England, and shipped over and reassembled, completed several months before the stock market crash of 1929 . Virginia House is in the Tudor architectural style but incorporates a range of designs from other English houses and has modern facilities such as ten baths and central heating. Virginia House was built by Alexander and Virginia Weddell, salvaging many materials from
504-581: The English commonly adapted from the Low Countries in the early seventeenth century. The east wing of the house, however, is based on Wormleighton Manor , a Spencer-Churchill family estate in England. The interior to Virginia House is elegant with oak furnishings and an assortment of English and Spanish antiques, oriental carpets, silks, and silverware. The first floor consists mainly of large, elaborate rooms, intended for social meetings and to house
540-465: The Hawkins priory in Virginia, the reconstructed house incorporated other designs and influences. Following the acquisition of the Warwickshire property, the Weddells hired chief architect Henry Grant Morse and scouted the English countryside, surveying properties and considering various designs they could incorporate into the rebuilding process. As a result, the reconstruction is not a replica of
576-509: The Priory and other old English manor houses and adding further elegant English and Spanish antiques, oriental carpets, silks, and silver. Today Virginia House is operated by the Virginia Historical Society as a house museum, although it largely remains as it was in the 1940s during the Weddells’ tenancy. Immediately to the west of the property is Agecroft Hall . The façade of Virginia House
612-400: The community together. The street allows east-west access to neighboring communities such as Stadium , Rothesay , Lockgreen , and Near West End . Canterbury Road functions as the primary ring road for the neighborhood. Exeter Road provides direct access to Carytown while Coventry Road offers direct access to Mary Munford . At the heart of the community lies the 'Grace Baptist Church' and
648-451: The functions and exhibits of the Virginia Historical Society. The second floor was mainly designed to be used as the private living quarters of the Weddells and their staff and featured a large library, which now functions as the boardroom and research facility of the Virginia Historical Society. The rear hall again uses old oak high paneling and has small six by nine-inch oil portraits of Renaissance figures. Freestanding Corinthian columns in
684-514: The hallway form an ornamental gateway and stained glass doors at the end enter the rear porch arcade. The dining room was furnished with oak bought later from Redbourn Manor in Hertfordshire and has an imposing Portland stone fireplace positioned midway in the room. The floor is made of old re-sawn pegged oak and the Tudor rose ceiling motif is repeated. In the southeast wing of the house
720-466: The house was auctioned off and transported to the Atlantic Ocean . Windsor Farms was one of the first communities in Richmond built with the automobile in mind. Its layout features a partial grid that is characterized by curvy roads, with one major road encircling the neighborhood. Dover road, is a divided revenue which serves as the main thoroughfare that connects the eastern and western ends of
756-481: The house which he named "Hawk's Nest," set among gardens. He entertained Elizabeth I at the house. The property was bought in 1709 by Henry Wise , Royal Gardener to Queen Anne . In the mid-nineteenth century, it was purchased by the Lloyds Bank family who put the manor up for sale at auction in 1925. Alexander W. Weddell , a wealthy American diplomat and his wife Virginia Chase Steedman, however, offered
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#1732765443374792-708: The manor and mining subsidence above the Clifton Hall Colliery made a dirty lake on the edge of the estate. The house fell into disrepair and was sold at auction in 1925 to Mr & Mrs Thomas C. Williams. Today, Agecroft Hall stands re-created on the banks of the James River , in a setting chosen to be reminiscent of its original site at Agecroft near the River Irwell. Agecroft's grounds reflect English gardens with Elizabethan aromatics and were designed by Charles Gillette . Cyril Bracegidle in his book Dark River: Irwell asserts that legend has it that
828-456: The motion was rejected and as it gradually became apparent what the Weddels intentions were, on April 13, 1926, another MP, Frank Rye , sent a letter to Alexander Weddell saying, "Had you not stepped in and bought the materials of the partially demolished structure, they would have been lost for all time, whereas now they will be utilised in the erection of a new building." The Tudor mansion
864-774: The north, the Downtown Expressway to the east, the James River and several areas to the south, and the neighborhoods of Lockgreen and Westmoreland Place to the west. Historic houses in the neighborhood include Virginia House and Agecroft Hall , both moved from England in the 20th century. Another is "The Oaks" which was built by Benjamin Harrison IV in 1745 and moved from nearby Amelia County, Virginia , in 1927. Several high-end, architecturally significant houses were designed by Virginia-born Duncan Lee and William Lawrence Bottomley of New York. Like most of
900-481: The original building. The west wing of the house is actually a replica of Sulgrave Manor , a small manor house in Northamptonshire , England, which once belonged to Lawrence Washington , an ancestor of America's first president, George Washington . However, the center of the house is a reproduction of the original Warwickshire priory and uses the curvilinear gables, strapwork design, and balustrades that
936-755: The permanent residence of the historical society. On June 13, 1990, Virginia House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places , due to it being considered "a noteworthy representative of a peculiar residential building type prevalent in the late 19th and early 20th century period of American architecture." During this time – known as the Country Place Era – many wealthy American families built extensive country estates emulating those they had seen while traveling in Europe. Although many stones and materials were salvaged and used to rebuild
972-481: The plan was to create an informal Garden Week tours are held in Virginia House gardens in the spring, attracting thousands of visitors annually. Agecroft Hall Agecroft Hall is a Tudor manor house and estate located at 4305 Sulgrave Road on the James River in the Windsor Farms neighborhood of Richmond, Virginia , United States . The manor house was built in the late 15th century, and
1008-405: The rebuilding. Foundation work began on November 6, 1925, and the structure was officially turned over to the Weddells on January 1, 1929. The total cost of the construction was $ 236,968.83, with an additional $ 15,000 spent on buying the lot, a considerable sum for that time. The Weddells lived at Virginia House until they both died in a train accident in 1948. After their deaths the house became
1044-650: The second floor consists of living quarters and bathrooms, including many rooms of staff of the Virginia Historical Society and Virginia Weddell's bedroom, bath, and study. Virginia House is set in carefully planned landscape gardens, which contain a diversity of plants and plantings. Virginia Weddell hired the noted landscape architect Charles Gillette in 1927, and over some twenty years he built more than 8 acres (32,000 m ) of scenic gardens containing close to 1,000 types of ornamental plants—from formal spring displays to wisteria , roses , and sprawling hydrangeas that drape balconies and garden rails. The first phase of
1080-706: The tale of the Babes in the Wood was inspired by an incident at the hall during the reign of Edward III . On the morning of the Feast of the Ascension (the 40th Day after Easter Sunday ) in 1374, young Roger Langley and his sister escaped from the villainous Robert de Holland and his men and hid in the forest which covered the slopes of the Irwell Valley, cared for by loyal retainers, until their guardian, John of Gaunt ,
1116-528: Was also elected a Cardinal , but refused the appointment. Bishop Thomas paid for the rebuilding of St Leonard's Church, Middleton, which was reconsecrated in 1412. In the 1662 Hearth Tax returns, Agecroft Hall was recorded as having 11 hearths out of a total of 35 in the whole of Pendlebury. At the end of the 19th century, industrialisation swept through the Irwell Valley . Coal pits were opened all around Agecroft Hall, railway tracks were cut across
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1152-629: Was dismantled but, concerned that the stone would swiftly disintegrate during the demolition phase, Weddell's advisers ordered that a small explosive device be triggered in the centre of the house and the undamaged stones salvaged. However, the explosion had the effect of splitting the walls intact meaning that much of the building could be salvaged and shipped to the United States. The first shipments arrived in Richmond, Virginia in early 1926, but they were soaked in seawater and had to be dried in
1188-561: Was not to replicate Agecroft as it had stood in Lancashire, but rather to create a functional and comfortable mansion reminiscent of its English predecessor. The original floor plan was abandoned and many 20th century conveniences were included. Reconstruction took two years and cost approximately $ 250,000, and the project was completed during the spring of 1928. Williams died the following year, having stipulated in his will that upon his widow's death or relocation, Agecroft Hall would become
1224-591: Was originally located in the Irwell Valley at Agecroft , Pendlebury , then in the historic county of Lancashire , England, but by the 20th century it was unoccupied and in a state of disrepair. Thomas C. Williams, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia, a wealthy entrepreneur, purchased Agecroft Hall upon the advice of his architect, Henry G. Morse . During the Country Place Era , when many wealthy American families were building extensive country estates emulating those they had seen in Europe, Williams, whose business interests included tobacco, banking, and shipping, wished to build
1260-654: Was originally located on the grounds of the former Augustinian Priory of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem (Warwick Priory) in Warwick , England, founded in 1109. In 1536, at the Dissolution of the Monasteries , the priory was shut down and the land later bought by a politician named Thomas Hawkins alias Fisher , during the reign of Edward VI . Fisher demolished most of the monastic buildings and erected
1296-410: Was the last male heir of the Langleys. The first Robert Langley (1379–1446) was a ward of John of Gaunt and later supported the claim of Gaunt's son as Henry IV in the overthrow of King Richard II . The second Robert Langley (1462–1547) supported Henry VII and received a lifetime annuity from him. And yet another Robert Langley (1506–1561) was granted a knighthood by Edward VI and later received
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