Williamsburg Area; Surry, Virginia. For history and nature lovers. Step back in time, but with all modern conveniences.
New for guests- CHILDREN'S TREASURE HUNT IN LIGHTWOOD FOREST. Please ask for details. Go on a treasure hunt for the Fairy Treasure, hidden centuries ago in the ancient forest. A secret treasure map found in the house will give clues to the location of the magical fairy hoard. A treasure chest filled with costume jewelry and other baubles can be taken home. The treasure hunt ties into the story of Scottish Fairies coming to Lightwood in the 1730s. The "Faeries of Lightwood and Doon Hill" story can be found on the Lightwood House web site.
The drive from the house is 10 miles to Williamsburg and 4 miles to Jamestown, including a beautiful, free, 18-minute car ferry ride past Jamestown Island, docking next to the 17th-century replica ships at Jamestown.
*For parties close to, or at, our maximum of 10, please see the bedroom arrangements below to make sure they will work for you.
LIGHTWOOD HOUSE IS AN 18TH-CENTURY PLANTATION HOME nestled in a magnificent old-growth beech forest in rural Surry County, near Williamsburg, and is one of America's most beautiful and unique historic vacation rentals. The estate comprises over 100 acres of woods, meadows and streams, and is part of the land given by Chief Powhatan to Pocahontas and John Rolfe as a wedding gift. Lightwood House was the center of a prosperous tobacco plantation and the home of a Revolutionary War soldier and his family. Built in four different periods circa 1760 to 1795, Lightwood House is completely restored and features exceptional detailed woodwork and authentic furnishings, yet also offers all modern conveniences, including a jetted tub, satellite TV, and WIFI.
Children love Lightwood House with its many nooks and crannies to explore. While the house has many fine antiques, the furniture is sturdy and we have never had a problem with damage by enthusiastic little ones. So please don't worry about turning kids loose in the house, as long as obvious and normal precautions are taken.
Lightwood is also home to four long case "Grandfather" clocks, two of which are over 300 years old. The bells are silenced when guests are there, and the clocks can easily be stopped if their ticking bothers anyone.
LOCATION AND FERRY TO WILLIAMSBURG/JAMESTOWN
While the surroundings are completely rural and secluded, the house is only one-and-a-half miles from the town of Surry, where basic essentials are available, and three-and-a-half miles to the 24-hour, 18-minute, free car ferry ride to Jamestown and Williamsburg. From the ferry dock on the other side of the James River, Jamestown is one-half mile, and Colonial Williamsburg six miles away.
BEDROOM ARRANGEMENTS
The house has five bedrooms and two large bathrooms (the downstairs bathroom features a marble walk-in shower and six-foot whirlpool bathtub), a living room, dining room that seats up to ten comfortably, large classical entrance hall, fully equipped kitchen, laundry room, four fireplaces (three with gas logs or stoves), and back porch, for a total of 2400 square feet. Upstairs are two large bedrooms, each with a queen-sized canopy bed; one double bed in a small room; and two single beds in an attic room adjoining one of the queen bedrooms. In order to get to the upstairs bathroom, one needs to go through the queen bedroom from the attic room. These two bedrooms can serve as a family suite. Downstairs there is a small bedroom with a double bed. The bed is against the wall, so it can be difficult for the "outside" person to get out over the "inside" person in the middle of the night. There are two large bathrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. The upstairs bath has a tub/shower arrangement, and the downstairs bathroom has a six-foot jetted tub and a separate walk-in shower. Stairs throughout the house are steep. Each bedroom has a chest of drawers; the Blue bedroom has a large wardrobe; and a small closet is located just outside the Attic bedroom.
The rest of the house is large enough to spread out in, with a large entrance hall, spacious dining room and comfortable living room. The front and back yards are fenced in. More than 100 acres of forest, meadows and streams are available to explore from over two miles of hiking trails.,
The house is furnished with antiques from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and early-nineteenth centuries. A picket-fenced back yard with period outbuildings, including a smokehouse used to smoke the hams for the coronation feast of King Edward VII, completes the scene. Two miles of nature trails meander through the woods and meadows of Lightwood Forest and offer a close look at local wildlife, which includes deer, turkeys, foxes, turtles, hawks, owls, woodpeckers, and bald eagles. Lightwood offers a private setting and a truly unique and exciting opportunity to step back into another time, all the while enjoying the comforts of the twenty-first century.
WEDDINGS AND EVENTS:
Friday noon to Sunday noon, 150-guest maximum, with overnight stays for up to ten; prices start at $2,950.00. Includes wedding ceremony area and space for up to a 40 x 80 tent.
AREA ATTRACTIONS:
The historic museums of Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, and the American Revolutionary Museum at Yorktown are only a short drive and free 24-hour, 18-minute car ferry ride away. All four of these national and international attractions are connected by the beautiful Colonial Parkway, which begins at Jamestown where the ferry docks, follows the banks of the James and York Rivers, passes through Williamsburg and ends at Yorktown and the Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, many important historic Civil War sites are within an hour's drive of Lightwood in the Richmond/Petersburg area.
Pristine riverfront beaches can be found in Surry at Chippokes Plantation State Park, at Jamestown on the James River, and at Yorktown on the York River. Virginia Beach is only a little over an hour's drive away. Williamsburg is also the home of Busch Gardens and Water Country USA theme parks. Surry County attractions include Bacon's Castle--America's finest seventeenth-century manor house; Smith's Fort Plantation, the site of Captain John Smith's fort of 1609 as well as a lovely 1760s brick house; and Chippokes Plantation State Park, with historic buildings, Olympic-sized pool, and riverfront beach. Boat rentals are available at the beautiful and unspoiled Chickahominy River State Park in Williamsburg/James City County.
The historic waterfront town of Smithfield, and seventeenth-century Saint Luke's Church, is a 20-minute drive away. Well-known James River plantations, open to the public, are an easy 45-minute drive and can be found along Historic Route 5, which meanders through Charles City County. Richmond is over an hour's drive, and Washington D.C., can be reached in around three hours (depending on NOVA/I-95 traffic conditions ).
Keywords: House/Estate, family friendly, child friendly, pet friendly, historic, elegant, unique, woodland, forest, picturesque, intimate, private, secluded, hotel alternative, motel alternative, weddings, treasure hunts.