Westover: A Mansion of Colonial Virgina

Towering mature tulip poplar trees grace the lawn of the brick Georgian mansion of Westover, in Charles City, Va. (Courtesy of Don Williamson Photography)

With a wide view of the James River in Virginia, Westover was built for colonial planter and politician William Byrd II (1674–1744) around the 1730s. According to the National Park Service, the home remained in the Byrd family for many generations. The home on 1,200 acres was built in the Georgian style that harkens back to classical Renaissance themes of order, symmetry, and proportion.

At the approach to Westover, one immediately notices the symmetry in the five dormer windows at the roofline, with the middle window exactly lining up with one of the many second floor windows. The middle second floor window lines up with the decorative element in the middle of the swan’s neck pediment. This is centrally placed with the front door’s divider.

Although other examples of original Georgian-style architecture still exist in Virginia, Westover is notable for its size (14,000 square feet). It’s many times larger than other 1700-era homes. The mansion features an underground escape route and a complex grid-arranged garden.

The architectural symmetry of the main house includes four chimneys situated in a square at each corner of the gambrel roof, which is steeply pitched to provide a third story for three bedrooms. (Courtesy of Historic Westover)

Every fireplace at Westover showcases a unique mantel. This one in the Green Room, a sitting and office area, is made of marble. The mantel supports fluted columns with a double capital treatment. The columns are flanked by wainscoted panels that complement the room’s doors and the walls, while a dental molding treatment distinguishes layered crown molding. (Courtesy of Historic Westover)

“This room is magical; it gets lots of light and overlooks the river,” said Andrea Erda, a fourth-generation owner. The drawing room, called the Red Room, uses primarily red fabrics in the curtains and furnishings. Three types of marble were carved on site and assembled into the ornate statement-piece mantel.  The design includes a dental-molding pediment, classical swag, and a grapevine framed mirror. A shiny brass hearth screen sits atop marble, and the fireplace is flanked by fluted, capital-topped columns. (Courtesy of Thomas Alston)

“This was a rebuilt area in 1899 after damage from the Civil War,” explained Erda, whose great grandfather, Richard Crane, purchased Westover in 1921. Her family recently transformed the area into an open kitchen for entertaining. She said the plaster ceiling and paneled walls were retained, as well as the elaborately framed painting over the fireplace. The inset arched bookcase flanked by fluted columns is filled with 18th- and 19th-century original volumes. (Courtesy of Thomas Alston)

The dining room is lined with multiple French doors and transoms that open to breezes coming off the James River. The ceiling features rope and fleur-de-lis moldings and a chandelier medallion. Dental molding accents stacked-crown molding. (Courtesy of Historic Westover)

While the pediment over the back entrance door is less formal than the front door entrance, it still exudes colonial affluency in its half-dome dental molding details over fluted Corinthian columns. The outer decorative door’s standouts are the semi-elliptical fanlight and the circle and half-circle interplay. (Courtesy of Historic Westover)

Westover’s formal walled garden, laid out in an exact eight-square-patterned grid, is accessible beyond the mansion’s west wing. The tomb of William Bird II is the centerpiece. Pathways lead to perennial flowers, annual vegetables, and a variety of old-growth trees, including 100-plus year old boxwoods. A featured element is a long-established wisteria arbor. (Courtesy of Historic Westover)

Open ornamental wrought ironwork, referred to by the French word “clairvoyée,”  is prominent at Westover's gates, such as this one with globe-topped brick pillars that opens to a view of the James River. (Courtesy of Historic Westover)

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