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William Willoughby's family roots extended back
to the earliest days of the Virginia colony. His
great-great-grandfather, Thomas Willoughby, had arrived here in 1610 at age
nine. By 1636 Thomas had obtained a patent for 200 acres of Tidewater
land on which Norfolk was later built. Thomas already owned the
500-acre Willoughby Plantation that is now Ocean View.
When William, prominent
retail merchant and contractor, repurchased the old family acreage, Norfolk
was struggling to recover from the massive fire damage caused by Lord
Dunmore's bombardment in 1776. In 1794 Willoughby built one of the first 20
brick townhouses in
Norfolk. The townhouse
reflected Federal and Georgian design. The furnishings you will see are in
keeping with the 1803 inventory filed with the will at William's death.
Hard use over the years resulted in the loss of all the original pieces.
In the front parlor you'll
notice that the handkerchief table, card table and the tilt-top table all
fold up. Furniture in the 18th century had to be versatile and movable to
allow maximum use of space. The pair of Queen Anne mirrors that hang
opposite each other, one in the parlor and the other in the adjoining dining
room, were designed to reflect candlelight and not images; called mirrors
when used downstairs, they were listed on inventories as looking glasses
when used upstairs. The dining room table was once owned by James Madison's
mother and was used in the White House during the Madison administration.
In the upstairs hall you'll
find a sword chair, designed with an arm rest on only one side so that a man
could sit and work while wearing his sword. There's also a dressing room
with a gentlemen's basin stand. The shaving cup is an ingenious contrivance
with a saucer that held alcohol. The alcohol was lit and by the time it
burned off, the water in the cup would be hot enough for shaving.
In the master bedchamber
there is a curious device used for making inkles, the braided linen tapes
used to secure clothes during the 18th century. Clothes were adjusted by
inkles at neck, wrist and waist so that one size fit all. These small
inkles prompted the expression, "don't have an inkling," meaning smallest
idea. The last room on the tour is the children's room, in which you'll see
a narrow chimney closet. The pattern on the children's dishes matches
artifacts of china discovered during excavation.
The Willoughby-Baylor house
is open April through December by appointment only, call (804) 664-6283. It
is closed on Mondays and major holidays. Admission is charged.
Directions:
From I-95 in the Richmond area, take I-64 east to Norfolk, then I-264 east.
Exit on Waterside Drive and take an immediate right at St. Paul's
Boulevard. Take a left onto Market Street, then the next right onto
Cumberland Street. The house is at the corner of Cumberland and Freemason
streets.
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