Bassett Hall, Colonial residence in Williamsburg, United States
Bassett Hall is a two-story white frame house in Williamsburg, Virginia, set on a property with lawns, gardens, and wooded paths near the heart of Colonial Williamsburg. The house is furnished as it looked when John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife used it as their private retreat during the restoration of the colonial town.
The house was built in the mid-18th century for a member of the colonial Virginia legislature and later passed to relatives of Martha Washington. John D. Rockefeller Jr. acquired it in the 1920s when he began funding the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, using it as a private home during his stays in the area.
Bassett Hall is known for its collection of American folk art, assembled by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller during her time here. The rooms feel personal and lived-in, giving a sense of how the couple arranged their private space away from the public restoration work nearby.
A visit to Bassett Hall pairs well with a walk through Colonial Williamsburg, since both are close to each other and easy to reach on foot. Plan enough time to see the inside of the house and to walk through the gardens and wooded paths on the grounds.
During the Civil War, a Union general stayed at the house while visiting a former classmate stationed nearby. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller also kept a number of her folk art pieces stored at the house before they were eventually moved to a dedicated museum.
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