Agecroft Hall

Agecroft Hall is probably the best-known house in Windsor Farms. It is a half-timbered Tudor and Stuart-era house that was dismantled, shipped from England, and reconstructed on this site. Although the house had deteriorated and vintage photographs show it in depressing surroundings of mines and railyards, there was a great protest in Britain when Williams bought the house. Morse was enlisted to adapt the original building to this site and to modern life. The huge house was placed down a winding drive, beyond the rolling lawn, on a tremendous lot overlooking the James River. Morse retained varied half-timbering motifs, accentuating sections of the facade and providing a jolt of pattern in the calm setting. A huge bay window with the original leaded glass is the focal point of the interior. The house is in no way an exact duplicate of the original house in England, but an American country-house adaptation with all the modern conveniences. The Williamses collected decorative arts of the Tudor and Stuart eras and set up a museum foundation to administer the house at their death. Consequently, Agecroft Hall is shown as a Tudor period house. The extensive formal garden is a great draw for the museum.