See the Places
: Historic Sites & Buildings
: Ludwell-Paradise House
A two-story brick home on the north side of Duke of Gloucester Street,
the imposing Ludwell-Paradise house was built as a townhouse by
wealthy planter-politician Philip Ludwell III. It dates from approximately
1755 and is still an elegant private residence. The Ludwell-Paradise
House was the first building the Reverend Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin of
Bruton Parish Church and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr.
obtained as they launched the restoration of Williamsburg.
- Built as townhouse by Philip Ludwell III
- Georgian architecture
- Virginia Gazette printed in the home when publishers
lived in it
- First building obtained by Dr. Goodwin and John D. Rockefeller
Jr. for restoration
Early Georgian architecture
A hip-roofed, five-bay early Georgian home with a 60-foot facade, the house
stands one foot high for every 2.2 feet it is long. Laid up in Flemish bond
with glazed headers, the Ludwell-Paradise House has a traditional central hallway
with staircase, but it is not typical of the genre.
The bricks used in the top and bottom floors appear to have come from different
kilns, an indication that the builder's plans changed during construction and
more bricks had to be fired. The suggestion is supported by an unusual lean-to
addition at the rear that is walled by bricks on two sides but clapboarded in
the back. The lean-to may have been an afterthought, but it is an integral part
of the 1755 fabric, not an addition.
 The home succeeded another home built on the site between 1680 and 1690, and
one or both of its chimneys may be from that first building. It is two rooms
deep on the first floor, but just one room deep on the second – a feature
usually restricted to 17th-century Virginia construction.
The jambs of the doors and the windows – spaced more widely than normal
because of the length of the facade – have rubbed brick edging. The low-pitched
roof has no dormers. The cornices have conventional block dentils with moldings.
Some of the restored Ludwell-Paradise House's original solidity is apparent
in the exposed beams of the basement.
Ludwell owned Green Spring plantation and was a member of Governor's
Council
The house's first owner, Philip Ludwell III, was a member of the Governor's
Council. Ludwell also owned Green Spring plantation in adjoining James City
County and eight other farms. His father, Philip Ludwell II, had been a member
of the House of Burgesses and one of the city's original trustees in 1699.
Virginia Gazette once printed in the home
Philip III's second daughter, Lucy, inherited the house, but she lived most
of her life in London with her husband, John Paradise, and rented the Williamsburg
home. Among her tenants were William and Clementina Rind, who arrived from Annapolis,
Maryland, in 1773 and printed one of the city's Virginia Gazette newspapers
in the home.
John Paradise, a scholar and a linguist, was an associate of Dr. Samuel Johnson's.
When the new state of Virginia confiscated Lucy's house during the Revolution,
Johnson called it "Paradise's Loss." After the war, the home was regained.
Widowed in 1795, Lucy Paradise returned to Williamsburg in 1805 and took up
residence in the Ludwell-Paradise House. She had a habit of entertaining callers
in a carriage rolled to and fro on the back porch by a servant and gained a
reputation for eccentricity. Eventually she was committed to the Public Hospital,
a mental institution. The house remained in the family.
Rockefeller secretly purchased home in 1926
In 1926, a few days after Rockefeller secretly commissioned Dr. Goodwin to
draft plans for restorations in Williamsburg, the Ludwell-Paradise House came
on the market for $8,000. Rockefeller, who insisted his name not yet be connected
with the restoration, had twice visited the city, explored it, and seen the
home. On the first trip, Goodwin had taken a shine to Rockefeller's small son,
David. In a pair of letters written December 4, Goodwin informed Rockefeller
of the opportunity. Rockefeller wired a reply from New York that arrived at
11:28 a.m. December 7. It said:
"Authorize purchase of antique referred to in your long letter of December
four at eight on basis outlined in shorter letter of same date. David's Father."
The restoration of Williamsburg was underway.
The Ludwell-Paradise House is not a Colonial Williamsburg exhibition site.
For further reading:
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Historic Triangle