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HisTorRiIc GARDENS OF VIRGINIA
—— NEZET ez E
From old papers and documents we learn that the Kandolph
family lived a life of cultured leisure at Tuckahoe for nearly two
hundred years. William Byrd, that eighteenth-century author, wit
and aristocrat, in his “History of the Dividing Line,” speaks of the
place: “I parted with my Intendant and pursued my journey to
Mr. Randolph’s at Iuckahoe, without meeting with any adventure
by the way. The heir of the Family did not come home until late
in the evening. He is a Pretty Young Man but had the misfortune
to become his own Master too soon. This puts young fellows upon
wrong pursuits, before they have sence to judge rightly for them¬
selves. I was sorry in the morning to find myself stopped in
my Career by bad weather.” After a visit of three or four days,
he writes: ‘“The clouds continued to drive from the N-Est and to
menace us with more rain. Therefore after fortifying myself with
two capacious Dishes of Coffee and making my Compliments to
the Ladyes, I mounted and Mr. Randolph. was so kind as to be
my guide.”
In 1782, the Marquis de Chastellux wrote of his visit to the
estate, describing it as, ‘““Tuckahoe, on James River, the seat of
Mr. Randolph a rich planter of Virginia.” Chastellux further
tells us that ““The Virginians have the reputation, and with reason,
of living nobly in their houses, and of being hospitable; they give
strangers not only a willing, but a liberal, reception.”’
And Thomas Anbury, in his “Travels Through the Interior
Parts of North America," published in 1789, says, “‘I spent a few
days at Colonel Randolph’s at Tuckahoe, at whose house the usual
hospitality of the country prevailed.’ He then adds a description
of the house, saying that it “seems to be built solely to answer the
purpose of hospitality, being constructed in a different manner than
in most other countries.”’
But the old home has had its adverse criticism, too. Not many
years ago, Professor Edward Channing, in an address before the
Massachusetts Historical Society, said ‘‘the house was interesting
on account of its architectural features,’ but that “‘on the whole,
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