Eighteenth-Century Plantation House in Private 100 Acre Forest Park

Property description

Williamsburg Area, Surry VA.
PLEASE NOTE: VRBO/HOMEAWAY OFFERS THE OPTION OF BOOKING DIRECTLY THROUGH THEM, WHICH INCLUDES CERTAIN GUARANTEES, OFFERS OPTIONAL TRIP CANCELLATION INSURANCE, BUT INVOLVES ADDED FEES. IF BOOKED DIRECTLY THROUGH US, THERE ARE NO ADDED FEES. WE ARE HAPPY TO HANDLE A BOOKING EITHER WAY. PLEASE CALL OR EMAIL FOR MORE INFORMATION.

Lightwood is an elegant eighteenth-century plantation house nestled in an ancient beech forest in rural Surry County, Virginia. The estate comprises over one hundred 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 antiques, the furniture is sturdy (one could almost dance a jig on the dining room table without doing any harm) 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 (like no ball games inside etc.)

Recent additions to Lightwood include 3 long case "Grandfather" clocks, two of which are over 300 years old. The bells are silenced when guests are there, and they can easily be stopped if the ticking bothers anyone.



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.

The house has five bedrooms, two large bathrooms, one upstairs and one downstairs, one of which features a marble walk-in shower and six-foot whirlpool bathtub, a living room, dining room that seats up to 10 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 there are two larger bedrooms, each with a queen-sized canopy bed, one double bed in a smaller room, and two twin beds in an attic room adjoining one of the queen bedrooms. Downstairs there is a small bedroom with a double bed.

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.

NEW FOR SPRING, 2015- WEDDINGS AND EVENTS

We are offering Lightwood as a wedding location beginning in the Spring of 2015. A wedding at Lightwood includes the exclusive use of the house and grounds for up to 50 people (10 maximum for overnight lodging). $1500.00 fee includes use of the house and grounds for two days (check in the day before the wedding, 4:00 PM or after) and two nights stay for up to 10 guests. Available for weddings during the months of April, May, September, October and November. Please email or call for details.

AREA ATTRACTIONS:

The historic museums of Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown are only a short drive and free, 24-hour, 20-minute car ferry ride away. All three 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. Many important historic Civil War sites are within an hours drive, in the Richmond/Petersburg area.

River-front beaches can be found in Surry at Chippokes Plantation State Park, at Jamestown on the James River, and at Yorktown on the York River leading to the Chesapeake Bay. Virginia Beach itself 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 Chickahominy River County 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 Route #5, which winds through Charles City County. Richmond is over an hour's drive, and Washington D.C., can be reached in around 3 hours (depending on NOVA/I-95 traffic conditions.)

Keywords: House/Estate