Raleigh Tavern

The Capitol at Williamsburg, Virginia housed both Houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the Council of State and the House of Burgesses of the Colony of Virginia from 1705, when the capital was relocated there from Jamestown, until 1780, when the capital was relocated to Richmond. Two capitol buildings served the colony on the same site: the first from 1705 until its destruction by fire in 1747; the second from 1753 to 1780. The earlier capitol was reconstructed in the early 1930s as part of the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg. The reconstruction has thus lasted longer than the combined total of both original capitol buildings.

Bassett Hall is an 18th-century farmhouse located in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the home of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller during the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg.

The Ludwell–Paradise House, often also called the Paradise House, is a historic home along Duke of Gloucester Street and part of Colonial Williamsburg in Williamsburg, Virginia. The home was built in 1752–1753 for Philip Ludwell III. In December 1926, it became the first property John D. Rockefeller Jr. authorized W. A. R. Goodwin to purchase as part of the Colonial Williamsburg restoration campaign. After being restored, the Ludwell–Paradise House held the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Collection from 1935 to 1956. The building now serves as a rented private residence in the Williamsburg historic area. Philip Ludwell II purchased the lot where the Ludwell–Paradise House was constructed in September 1700. Possibly built on the site of a prior house that was constructed between 1680 and 1690, timbers in the surviving structure were dated as being felled in 1752 and brickwork indicates the entire building was completed simultaneously. After being used as a rental property, a tavern that once hosted George Washington, and a host for The Virginia Gazette newspaper, the house's ownership passed to William Lee. Though their legal claim to the house was unfounded, Philip Ludwell III's daughter Lucy Ludwell Paradise and her husband, John Paradise, were associated with the house, giving the building its name. When the house was one of several properties seized from Paradise and Lee by Patriots during the American Revolutionary War, the Paradises' friend Samuel Johnson privately quipped about "Paradise's loss". Lucy Ludwell Paradise lived in the home from 1805 until she was institutionalized at the Williamsburg Public Hospital in 1812. On her death, her grandson, Philip Ignatius Barziza, took up residence at the home and sought Thomas Jefferson's help in an unsuccessful attempt to claim it as an inheritance. Philip Barziza's son Decimus et Ultimus Barziza, later a Confederate officer and Texas politician, was born in the house. The home was later owned by the Slater family, eventually passing to Marie Louise Stewart. Stewart, knowing of Goodwin's plan to restore Williamsburg to its 18th-century appearance, sold him the property. Briefly transferred to the College of William & Mary, it was returned to the Colonial Williamsburg project and restored in the early 1930s. It would then house Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's folk art collection until a purpose-built museum was opened. The home's restored appearance features a one-room-deep front portion that rises two stories and a single-story shed that spans the building's length on its rear, northern side. The exterior brickwork survives and is laid in the Flemish bond pattern with glazed accents. Much of the original interior woodwork has been lost, with renovations introducing paneling recovered from another 18th-century Virginia home. Reconstructed outbuildings also sit on the property.

The James Semple House is a historic house on Francis Street in Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, Virginia. Built about 1770, it is a prominent early example of Classical Revival residential architecture, whose design has been attributed to Thomas Jefferson. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

The Tayloe House is an 18th-century house in Williamsburg, Virginia. Located on E. Nicholson Street just east of Queen Street, the house was built from 1752 to 1759 and was restored in 1950–1951 by Colonial Williamsburg.The house was purchased by John Tayloe II in 1759 by Dr. James Carter, resident surgeon of Williamsburg. Tayloe was an influential member of the King's Council under Lord Dunmore and of the first Republic Council under Governor Patrick Henry. Tayloe was a member of the House of Burgesses of Virginia in 1774. A replica of the house was built in 2004 in Moorestown, New Jersey.

Williamsburg Inn is a historic resort hotel located at Williamsburg, Virginia. It was built in three phases between 1937 and 1972. The original section was designed by Perry Dean Rogers Architects and is dominated by a two-story portico which stands atop a ground floor arcade. It is a three-story, seven-bay, Colonial Revival style brick structure. It has two-story flanking wings in an "H"-shape. The East Wing addition, also by Perry Dean Rogers Architects, consists of multiple wings of guest rooms set at right angles to one another. A third phase embracing the Regency Dining Room and its adjoining courtyard, was completed in 1972. The Williamsburg Inn is one of the nation's finest resort hotels, internationally acclaimed for its accommodations, service and cuisine. It represented John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s commitment to bring the message of Williamsburg to a larger audience of influential Americans. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Williamsburg Inn is a member of Historic Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.The inn has twice hosted Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, in 1957 and 2007 while visiting Jamestown, Virginia. These visits marked the original settlement of the British colonists on the 350th and 400th anniversaries when the British first landed in America.

The Peyton Randolph House, also known as the Randolph-Peachy House, is a historic house museum in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. Its oldest portion dating to about 1715, it is one of the museum's oldest surviving buildings. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1973 as the home of Founding Father Peyton Randolph (1721–1775), the first and third President of the Continental Congress.

Colonial Williamsburg is a living-history museum and private foundation presenting a part of the historic district in the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. Its 301-acre (122 ha) historic area includes several hundred restored or recreated buildings from the 18th century, when the city was the capital of the Colony of Virginia; 17th-century, 19th-century, and Colonial Revival structures; and more recent reconstructions. The historic area includes three main thoroughfares and their connecting side streets that attempt to suggest the atmosphere and the circumstances of 18th-century Americans. Costumed employees work and dress as people did in the era, sometimes using colonial grammar and diction.In the late 1920s, the restoration of colonial Williamsburg was championed as a way to celebrate patriots and the early history of the United States. Proponents included the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin and other community leaders; the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities (now called Preservation Virginia), the Colonial Dames of America, the Daughters of the Confederacy, the Chamber of Commerce, and other organizations; and John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. Colonial Williamsburg is part of the Historic Triangle of Virginia, along with Jamestown and Yorktown and the Colonial Parkway. The site was once used for conferences by world leaders and heads of state. It was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1960.

The Gunpowder Incident (or Gunpowder Affair) was a conflict early in the American Revolutionary War between Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of the Colony of Virginia, and militia led by Patrick Henry. On April 20, 1775, one day after the Battles of Lexington and Concord (and well before news of those events reached Virginia), Lord Dunmore ordered the removal of the gunpowder from the magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia to a Royal Navy ship. This action sparked local unrest, and militia companies began mustering throughout the colony. Patrick Henry led a small militia force toward Williamsburg to force return of the gunpowder to the colony's control. The matter was resolved without conflict when a payment of £330 was made to Henry. Dunmore, fearing for his personal safety, later retreated to a naval vessel, ending royal control of the colony.

The Colonial Williamsburg Courthouse was constructed from 1770 to 1771 in the Georgian style. The courthouse is located facing Market Square with Duke of Gloucester Street running directly behind it. The property was acquired by Colonial Williamsburg in 1928, and was added to the National Register as a contributing property to the Williamsburg Historic District on October 15, 1966. The courthouse once housed two separate court systems, one being the James City County Court, responsible for carrying out county cases, and the other, the Hustings Court, responsible for the city cases. The courthouse was built with red bricks with white wooden trim-boards and long arched windows with white shutters. A projected portico is located over one of the entrances and is unique in Georgian architecture. The hipped roof rests on an entablature with dentil moldings. The roof is pierced on both sides by a chimney and a central octagonal drum capped with a dome and a spire. The courthouse was the site where Benjamin Waller read aloud the Declaration of Independence on July 25, 1776, after it arrived from Philadelphia.The building was used as a hospital for the Confederate Army after the Battle of Williamsburg.

The St. George Tucker House is one of the original colonial homes in Historic Williamsburg. It was built in 1718–19 for William Levingston (who, incidentally, built the first theater in America). The house eventually came into the hands of St. George Tucker who had moved from Bermuda to Williamsburg. Tucker was a lawyer and professor of law at the College of William and Mary and later became a state and federal judge. In 1796, Judge Tucker wrote a controversial pamphlet addressed to the General Assembly of Virginia. In it he laid out a plan to end slavery in Virginia because "the abolition of slavery was of great importance for the moral character of the citizens of Virginia." He is also famous for his 1803 edition of "Blackstone's Commentaries" which has become an indispensable American law text. The St. George Tucker House began as a simple structure but over the years, Tucker made many additions to the house to accommodate his growing family. Among these were chimneys, a second story, an east and west wing, a kitchen and bathrooms. St. George's son, Nathaniel Tucker continued the tradition and implemented many changes of his own. The family kept extensive records making the St. George Tucker House the most well documented home in Williamsburg. Of the many stories and anecdotes tied to the house, one of the most enduring is that of the first Christmas tree in Williamsburg. A German professor, Professor Charles Minnigerode, a friend of St. George's son, was a frequent guest in the home. In 1842, he introduced the Tucker children to a German style holiday celebration. Following the German tradition, a small evergreen tree was brought into the house. To the delight of the children they proceeded to decorate the tree with gilded nuts, marbleized paper, and strings of popcorn. The following December most families in Williamsburg had a Christmas tree in their parlor. The tradition soon spread throughout Virginia. To this day during the holiday season the only Christmas tree in Colonial Williamsburg can be found in the St. George Tucker House to commemorate that first tree. Tucker was somewhat of a disciplinarian as respected his children and other young residents, and being a judge, naturally drafted rules for the youngsters, called "Garrison Articles" to regulate behavior in the house. The children and visiting William and Mary students, somewhat-tongue-in cheek, then labeled the residence "Ft. St. George".In 1930 the Coleman family, descendants of St. George, deeded the house to Colonial Williamsburg with a life tenancy agreement. It was not until 1993, after the death of Tucker's great, great granddaughter, Dr. Janet (Coleman) Kimbrogh, that the house was turned over to Colonial Williamsburg. The last private resident to the home was Mr. Erich Tucker Kimbrough while he was a student at the William & Mary Law School. Remarkably, "the Tucker House" (as the family calls it) remained a private residence in the midst of Colonial Williamsburg until the early 1990s. Once in the hands of Colonial Williamsburg, mechanical and electrical systems were brought up to date including a bathroom constructed in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The necessary modernization notwithstanding, the classic 18th-century style of the house remains faithfully intact. Today the St. George Tucker house is used as an elegant reception center for donors of Colonial Williamsburg.

The Geddy House, also known as the James Geddy House, was built by James Geddy Jr. ca. 1762. One of the oldest houses in Virginia and in Williamsburg, it is located on the Palace Green across from Bruton Parish Church. It is a two-story, central-passage house.