Berkeley Plantation: A Mansion in Colonial Virginia

As is indicative of Federal-style architecture, distinct dentil molding defines the roof pitch of the Berkeley Plantation mansion. Bricks fired on the property are arranged in a Flemish bond pattern, meaning an alternating pattern of the bricks laid length ways and width ways. Architectural symmetry is present in the double-hung sash window placements. Three dormers are centered uniformly between brick chimneys. Deena Bouknight

Circa 1726, Berkeley Plantation’s mansion in Charles City, Virginia was already 50-plus years old when third U.S. president Thomas Jefferson visited his friend, Benjamin Harrison VI. Jefferson looked around the dark-paneled sitting rooms, and suggested changes based on his own Monticello dwelling in Charlottesville, Virginia.

In the late 1700s, Harrison removed the original walls separating two sitting rooms, and pass-through arches were added to flank the middle-of-the-rooms’ double-sided fireplace. Carved, decorative moldings and a capstone on the arches signified the Jeffersonian touch. The rooms were then flooded with light and became the gathering places for generations of Harrisons’ friends and family.

Overall, Berkeley Plantation is considered Georgian style, popular in the 18th and early 19th centuries, and is most distinct in the use of neoclassical dentil moldings, paneled doors, and double-hung sash windows.

Paned transoms over doors mirror the many double-hung sash windows on all sides of the Berkeley Plantation mansion. The walkway to this door is where the original carved stone was installed into the home, completed in 1726; it features the initials of mansion’s first inhabitants, Benjamin Harrison IV and his wife Anne Carter, as well as the year. Deena Bouknight

The extra-wide entryway was an ideal space for social events and balls. The polished Loblolly pine floor gleams against cream-hued walls. Central in the entryway is a fluted columned arch similar to the architectural focal point arches in the adjacent sitting rooms. Wide doorways leading into the sitting rooms from the entryway feature recessed columns and decorative moldings. The identical paneled doors leading into the entryway open to the front of the mansion, as some people historically have entered from the James River. Courtesy of Berkeley Plantation

Two wide arched pass-throughs flank the North Great Room’s fireplace and lead to the matching South Great Room. Jefferson’s suggestions included the fluted Corinthian columns topped with layered capitals and the fluted capstone at the top of the arched openings. Smaller versions of the columns seemingly hold up the fireplace mantel. Doors are extra wide and paneled, as is the chair railing. The furnishings and accessories aren't original to the room; they're 18th- and 19th-century period antiques.  Courtesy of Berkeley Plantation

The mansion’s simple dining room is dressed up with colonial hues: gold painted walls and 18th-century traditional Williamsburg blue and white china. Pediments over the room’s doors are emphasized by fluted motifs. The newer chandelier hanging over the table is a nod to the original fixture that served as the room’s focal point. Narrow spiral columns adorn the fireplace. Courtesy of Berkeley Plantation

Even the low entry into the mansion's basement was decorated with Georgian thick dentil moldings under a steep pitched doorway roof. Also over the paneled French door is an arched pediment. Deena Bouknight

A replica of the original, the gazebo was built to original specifications to achieve an octagonal shape. Half-arch openings are decorated at their bases with wooden lattice designs. Copper covers the sloping roof, which is accented with a decorative spire at the top. Deena Bouknight

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