Governor's Palace and Gardens
What was it like to be the governor of Virginia? What was it like to serve him? The Governor’s Palace was home to seven royal governors, Virginia’s first two elected governors, and hundreds of servants and enslaved people. It was built to display the colony’s wealth, power, and permanence. Tours of the reconstructed building depart every 10 minutes from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Then, from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m., explore the residence of the royal governor at your own pace, and directed by your own interests. Wander through the Palace and feel free to ask any questions.
BUILDING AND FURNISHING THE PALACE
If building a Palace was easy, everyone would have one. But the governor’s house took longer to finish than anyone expected. The Virginia General Assembly agreed in 1705 to finance the construction of a “house for the governor.”1 But after five years of planning and construction, the building remained incomplete. Worried that an unfinished structure would be “to all strangers a visible testimony of an imprudent undertaking,” Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood pressed the assembly for more funds and eventually took charge of the construction himself.2
Spotswood had grand designs. Over time, the ballooning cost of the Palace’s construction raised questions among the gentry. The House of Burgesses eventually tried to have Spotswood removed from office, complaining among other things that he “lavishes away” the colony’s funds in constructing the governor’s home.3 They were particularly critical of his ambitious plans for the gardens, which included a canal, fishpond, and terraces.4 The Governor’s Palace gardens were among the most imitated and admired in the American colonies.
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