The best presidential homes in Virginia for visitors are Mount Vernon and Monticello, but others – including the Berkeley Plantation on the James River – are worth a look.
American history in Virginia
No US state is quite as swathed in history as Virginia. It’s home to the first British colonial settlement at Jamestown, the last land battle of the Revolutionary War at Yorktown and several key Civil War sites – including the Confederacy capital of Richmond and the Appomattox Courthouse site where the war effectively ended.
Virginia also has a proud record of producing more American presidents than any other state. Eight – from George Washington to Woodrow Wilson – were born there. The presidential homes and birthplaces can be linked together to create a driving route that takes in many of Virginia’s other highlights on the way – whether that’s artisan cider makers near Charlottesville, African-American history in Alexandria or the Luray Caverns in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Historic Triangle, where the remarkably preserved Colonial Williamsburg joins Jamestown and Yorktown, is a logical starting point, and from there, the trail leads to the James River Plantations…
Sherwood Forest
The first James River plantation stop along scenic byway State Route 5 is the former home of John Tyler. There’s a graveyard for the family’s pets near the graveyard – including Tyler’s beloved horse, general – but it’s the architecture that’s the star here.
The meticulously maintained and white-painted main house is the largest frame house in the country, stretching for over 300 feet. It’s still owned by the Tyler family, and there’s a low key approach – visitors are allowed to amble freely through Sherwood Forest’s grounds.
Berkeley Plantation
The ancestral home of both William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison, the Berkeley Plantation’s centrepiece is a handsome brink mansion. Tours lead inside it, and the small rooms in the basement act as a small museum.
But the other historical claims are more impressive than the presidential history here. The bugle call ‘Taps’, which is played at military funerals, was composed at Berkeley during the Civil War. And it was also the site of America’s first Thanksgiving ceremony.
Mount Vernon
George Washington’s home on the banks of the Potomac River in Alexandria features a thoroughly absorbing museum about Washington’s life and his presidential influences on the fledgling independent nation. The tours of the house itself are less interesting than the tours of the grounds – one of which concentrates on Washington’s complex attitudes to slavery, and the lives of the slaves on the plantation. Washington’s tomb can also be found in a forest clearing. Budget time – a visit to Mount Vernon can easily eat up a full day.
Monticello
No presidential home bears as strong a stamp of its owner than Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, just outside Charlottesville. Jefferson designed it himself according to classical, Palladian principles; the entrance hall is full of eccentric items he collected from around the world; tours focus on the polymath president’s considerable list of achievements. But, grippingly, they also don’t shirk from his quirks and flaws – and the illegitimate children he almost certainly fathered with one of his slaves are openly discussed.
The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum
Woodrow Wilson’s birthplace in the pretty Shenandoah Valley town of Staunton is home to his presidential library. It offers a fascinating snapshot into his era. In this case, the self-guided tour through the galleries takes in themes such as prohibition, universal suffrage and World War I. There’s also a World War I trench exhibit that aims to simulate what life was like for soldiers on the frontline.
Handily, Staunton is near the start of the Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Park.
