- View ChannelsFeatured: Finance
- View ShowroomsFeatured: Radiantec - Radiant Solar Heating
Tour of Williamsburg and Royal Governor's Palace
Chapters from this episode
Now Playing
Now Playing
Now Playing
Clip Transcript For:
Tour of Williamsburg and Royal Governor's Palace
computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate
" We're visiting Colonial Williamsburg, an 18th century historical reconstruction that takes up most of Williamsburg, Virginia and the buildings that you see around me and the street scenes are meticulous reconstructions of what was originally here in the 18th century but put up in the 20th. Shopkeepers, carpenters, cabinet makers, soldiers and citizens all go about their business while tourist get a chance to experience what life was like in Virginia before and during the American revolution. Long before the governors mentioned that we're renovating in Richmond was ever built, Williamsburg was capital of the prosperous Virginia colony. This is the royal governor's palace. Actually it's a 1930s replica of what was once the one of the finest buildings in North America and you have to keep in mind that in 1706 when construction of the actual palace began, this was the symbol of the power of the crown and it drew the colonists to this location. The elaborate iron gates are unmistakably royal with heraldic beasts and crowns. The building itself is Baroque, it seems exaggeratedly imposing, with 3 elongating stories and a tall hipped roof, topped with a 2 story tower. And then there's the garden, enforcing order and symmetry on the wilderness of the American colonies. And of course the best part is inside. Lets meet architectural historian, Mark Winger. Good morning, Mark."
" Good morning Bob, how are you?"
" This is impressive it doesn't, you know,"
" when you look the facade outside, you don't have a clue how deep and huge this place is."
" It's about 120 feet--"
" -Is that right.--"
" -from front to back."
" And its essentially just 3 rooms right?"
" Yes, that's right."
" Yes and am pilad, as they were saying, lined up. Wow! That's a lot of muskets."
" It was a very impressive display that would have expressed the vice regal authority here of of the Governor."
" The power of the King represented here in the colonies--"
" -That's right!"
" -and its armament, it's not nuclear but it, it will do.--"
" -That's right!"
" It must be over a hundred muskets up there."
" The sword, the hangers that you see, they were called were in service with the regiment that served here in North America."
" These clearly look they're original muskets, I mean, you could see the wear on a gun stock there."
" That's right, these are original weapons."
" So they could seen duty during the revolutionary war."
" Absolutely, yes."
" And these, what did you call these, hangers?"
" These are hangers. These are swords that would have been carried by the enlisted men and by non commission officers."
" And why are they called hangers?"
" Well presumably because it hung from a strap over the infantryman's shoulder."
" Now this is the the a the heraldic crest here. Is this also an original?"
" Yes this is an original 18th century coat of arms from Hanoverian period, the sort of third quarter of the 18th century."
" The the one thing that's a little bit incongruous is the red checkered covers on the chairs."
" Well these are mentioned in the inventory of Lord Botetout's personal possession--"
" -And he was the last royal governor?"
" Well he was the next to last royal governor, and these were these were helpful in in protecting this marvelous--"
" -Ah okay! so just"
" -red bammous [unk] upholstery"
" They're just slip covers."
" Very valuable and and very delicate."
" Yes so that that it would have only been displayed on special occasion."
" That's right."
" All right, and then let's go through here. Boy all these walnut paneling and a pine staircase, it's really incredible that this was all put together in 1930. What's, what's the story here?"
" Well this was all part of John D. Rockefeller's effort to recreate Virginia's 18th century colonial capital. And this building"
" is based on archaeology, it's based also on room by room inventory of Governor Botetout's [unk] personal possessions and also on a floor plan that Thomas Jefferson drew when he lived here as governor."
" So he lived here before the original building burned which was in 1780s right?"
" That's right!"
" Okay. But what about detailing like the the Nuol [unk] post here?"
" Well we couldn't know all of that and so in that case we have to draw on precedence from English country houses, the carved urn that you see here is from Elf and Lodge in Kent and the Nuol post is from another house."
" Would this been appropriate of the kind of rough pine floors and landings with the detailing?"
" Yes. Pine was, was almost universal as a flooring material here on the landing in this case, there's, there's walnut and pine carpentry--"
" -Beautiful"
" -with a quaff for foil inlay."
" And then, upstairs, was it all private quarters?"
" Well there was a, a very important room upstairs called the Middle Room which was kind of like a royal audience room. It was where the governor received people who had matters of business to transact and so this stair was a ceremonial stair it was, it was that that room upstairs was the destination for this."
" That why you would have had the imposing architecture, the arches and--"
" -That's right"
" -big lantern and those things up there. And what's over here?"
" This is the ballroom."
" This is almost psychedelic. Is this is authentic? This color scheme? "
" It it is. It's based on good documentation from the the records of Governor Botetout [unk] that are still placed in the Gloucester record. It's a it's a stove, a two-tiered stove and the original was made by Abraham the Zagglow [unk]."
" In London?"
" In London."
" And, of course, the furnitures at rest up against the wall has been--"
" -That's right."
" -You could have had maybe 50 people dancing a, what did they do? A minuet?"
" Virginia Reel, a minuet and then at the end of an evening's entertainment, there would a light meal called the supper and these doors would be thrown open and there will be this fabulous array or collation, they call it, of sweet meats."
" But this room is exquisite with the corners detailing, and the over door, it's almost Chinese."
" It's a really floral scheme that sort of appropriate to the nature of what was going on here."
" Yes."
" And then through these doors?"
" The gardens."
" Boy the boxwood in here, it's just a beautiful garden isn't it."
" Yes it's lovely."
" Is it accurate?"
" Well it's based on an engraving of 1730 that shows these diamond shaped par tares [unk]."
" So there's lots to see and do in Colonial Williamsburg."
" Certainly is."
" Thanks Mark."
" Pleasure Bob."
