Historic Early Virginia Home Plan

Robert Nicholson, who would become one of Williamsburg's most prosperous tailors and merchants, began construction of this unique house in the early 1750s

He first built a small, neat frame dwelling featuring a side entryway

He later decided to double the size of his house by adding a west wing adjoining the house at the side passage, thereby making the side door the new center of the house

Proof of this transformation is the ever-so-slightly off-center doorway, a quaint feature that distinguishes many old homes that that have undergone alterations over the centuries

Many original elements of the Nicolson house remain virtually intact today: original heart pine flooring, panel wainscoting, turned stair balusters and finely molded dentils

Commodious, yet simple and unpretentious, this home is a premier example of early Virginia architecture.