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Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont » The Peninsulas » Charles City County » Sherwood Forest

Sherwood Forest

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c. 1780, c. 1845. 14501 John Tyler Hwy. (VA 5). Open to the public
  • Sherwood Forest (Virginia Division of Historic Resources)

John Tyler, born nearby at Greenway, the tenth U.S. president, former congressman, senator, governor, and, at his death in 1862, member of the Confederate Congress, purchased this house and attached farm in 1842, three years before leaving the presidency. To a simple threebay frame house he made many additions, including a ballroom and an office, all one room deep, and built dependencies. Architectural historian Calder Loth believes that the result may, at 300 feet, be the longest domestic facade in the state. Remarkably unified in spite of its diversity, it is daunting. The interior details are based on Minard Lafever's publications. The wallpaper in the ballroom dates from 1844. The grounds immediately surrounding the house received a romantic treatment, and portions of that landscaping still survive.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Richard Guy Wilson et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Belle Air
Charles City County Courthouse
Greenway
Brandon Plantation
Mount Airy

Citation

Richard Guy Wilson et al., "Sherwood Forest", [, Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-01-PE70.

Print Source

Buildings of Virginia: Tidewater and Piedmont, Richard Guy Wilson and contributors. New York: Oxford University Press, 2002, 359-359.

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