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The Tuckahoe house is well known for its early Georgian architecture and emphasis on southern hospitality. Its unique shape promoted better ventilation and resulted from two stages of construction. William Randolph built the North Wing in 1733 before adding the Center Hall and South wing in 1740. The mansion’s size and shape, especially the Great Hall, accommodated many friends and relatives at the Randolph’s numerous parties and balls.
The house is best known for being the childhood home of Thomas Jefferson. Thomas’s father Peter and William Randolph were related by marriage and became fiercely loyal friends. In their wills, they mutually agreed that if one’s children were orphaned, the other would become guardian and property caretakers. Sadly Judith, William’s wife, died in 1742 and he followed her in death leaving behind three young children. Keeping to the agreement, Peter moved his family, including two year old Thomas, to Tuckahoe in 1745 and here they stayed for seven years. Young Thomas’ earliest memory was the trip from his birthplace, Shadwell, to Tuckahoe traveling the 60 miles on horseback steadied by a trusted servant and a pillow. In 1752 the Jefferson’s returned to Shadwell and young Thomas went off to boarding school. Still a teenager, Thomas Mann Randolph became master of Tuckahoe and soon married Anne Cary of Ampthill. Among their ten children was Thomas Mann Randolph Jr., later a Virginia governor and son-in-law to Thomas Jefferson, Mary Randolph who authored the first Virginia cookbook, and Nancy and Judith Randolph who later became known for their involvement in the Bizarre Scandal).
Many of the Mansion’s original features that Thomas Jefferson knew remain intact today, and some influenced him as an architect: The large Palladian-inspired south door, the pilasters and elaborate cornice of the Burnt room, the alcoves in the north bedrooms, the small paneled door leading down to an English basement. Jefferson evidently loathed the lack of heat in the Great Hall and the stair halls despite the beautifully carved north stair hall. Also of note are the wide floor boards, the black walnut paneling and the original glass window panes, some with hundred plus year-old names etched into them.
