Thomas Jefferson’s historic childhood home comes up for sale
President Thomas Jefferson lived at Tuckahoe in his childhood. Now, it's on the market for the first time in a century.
Founding Father Thomas Jefferson’s childhood home in Virginia is on the market with Frank Hardy and Sotheby’s International Realty. The five-bedroom home — which comes with 557 acres, including agricultural land and equestrian facilities — will set you back $17 million (about £12 million).
As well as serious historical significance, the estate comes with formal gardens, a series of outbuildings and an original, one-room schoolhouse — perhaps for the private tutoring of future presidents, if you have ambitious offspring.
This is where America’s third president, who was also an architect, was educated, and where he first encountered a classically domed ceiling. Jefferson (1743-1826), who went on to become the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, lived here from 1745 to 1752, during which time his father managed the estate.
The unique H-frame house was constructed by William Randolph III (1712-45) — whose first cousin was Jane Randolph Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson’s mother — in two stages. A lot of its original architecture remains, including full-height walnut wall panelling and period windows.
Available for sale for the first time in almost a century, Tuckahoe’s new owners will need to make peace with the darker side of its history — it operated mainly as a tobacco plantation and relied heavily on enslaved labour.
One of the most complete early 18th-century plantation layouts in North America, largely unchanged for generations, and a crucial window into an exploitative and complicated part of America’s history, Tuckahoe, which sits alongside the James River, is a designated National History Landmark.
Tuckahoe is for sale at $17 million through Frank Hardy Sotheby's International Realty — see more details and pictures.
