The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-07-24
NOW
4 Famous Old
Frame House
IT. JEFFERSON
BY HELEN ESSARY

acquainted the name means
nothing.
To the botanist tuckahoe Is
a "subterranean fungus grow
ing on trees in the Southern
United States.
To the student of words the
derivation of Tuckahoe goes by
steps like these: 'Tuckahoe-
North American Indian; a
cake; bread in a cake; a cake
made round: an Indian cake
made round"
To the antiquarian Tuckahoe
has q more romantic suggestion
than any Of these.
It brings to the mind a pic
ture of a remote Virginia COM
munity. A community about
$50 years aid. Preserved COM
plete and whole to the present
day by people who loved it. A
community composed OF an
ancient village of slave quarters
set neatly in rows in a large
farmyard. A small, square
schoolhouse where 1T. Jeffer.
son" used to mind his P's and
Q's.
Clearest of all in the mental
picture is the vision of the old
house that was and is the heart
of Tuckahoe-a rambling frame
house set on a terrace over
looking deep woods and valleys.
Not a great mansion command
ing admiration by its elegance
and propriety but a pleasant
frame house with wings and ad-
ditions put here and there as
necessity and fancy suggested.
with tall, outside brick chimneyS
poisoning with century'olo
ivy.
The romantic antiquarian Is
correct in his vision OF TucKa'
hoe. So is the botanist and the
student of words. The name OF
the old Randolph estate on the
James River, near Richmond
Is of Indian derivation.
The estate appears first in
the tradition Of the nelghbor"
hood about a hundred years be"
fore the Revolution when the
rebellious Nathaniel Bacon>S
lands were confiscated by the
Crown. William r a n d o p n
bought Tuckahoe at a bargain
and settled there.
The actual time of the pres
ent Tuckahoe's birth is uncer'
tain. It is conceded. however,
to be the oldest frame house OF
any Importance now standing in
this section where few houses
of distinction were built OF
wood.
The doorways of Tuckahoe'
plain with cornices free Of orna'
1nentation, tell the age of the
house. Artisans of the period
were simple carpenters. In the
frame work of the mansions
windows are the wooden pegs.
proof that the house was built
before nails were used in the
Colonies.
Indoors is a broad welcoming
hall dominated by stairway OF
black walnut with beautifully
carved balustrades.
This, known as the North
Stair, is famous among Virgin"
las beautiful Stairways. Its
carving must have been done at
a period later than that when
the outside porticos were erected.
It shows more skilled workman
ship. So do the mantles, even
though they are simply executed.
The paneling on the walls is
mostly of mahogany.
There are innumerable rooms
In the house, as one might eX"
pect from its exterior. They
are all pleasant, big rooms with
an abundance of light and
space.
The garden at Tuckahoe bios
SONS each year with flowers
that have grown in the same bed
since the early days. No new
flowers are experimental with,
no old ones combined in new
arrangements.
The family burial ground is
surrounded by brick wall
three feet thick. In front Of
the house the land slopes and
makes a deep drop to the James
River, seen through an open"
ing in the trees.
Just to the right of the man.
sion is a school house with a
plate saying:
Thomas Jefferson attended
school here between 174S and
1752."
In childish scraWl on the
school house walls is 1T. Jeffer-
son." written when the boy was
studying with the young Ran.
dolphs under an English tutor.
In it's Jeffersonian days,
Tuckahoe, owned by Thomas
Mann Randolph, was at its most
elegant period. Thomas Mann
Randolph II married Martha
Wales Jefferson and became
Governor of Virginia. His sister
Mary was the maternal ancestor
Of Chief Justice Marshall.
In 1898 ]. Randolph Coolidge,
Of Boston. bought Tuckahoe.
Restored it without iniuring