During the Civil War, the Union cavalryman George Armstrong Custer was a guest in the home for 10 days. Custer was in town to attend the wedding of a West Point classmate, a Confederate who had been wounded in the Battle of Williamsburg.[2]
Rockefeller Home
In 1926, Rev. Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin of Bruton Parish Church approached philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. with the idea of preserving and restoring the historic buildings of Williamsburg. After strolling through the great trees behind Bassett Hall in contemplation, Rockefeller agreed.[3] Goodwin later suggested:
I wish you would buy Bassett Hall for yourself. It would give you a charming vantage point from which to play with the vision and dream which you see.[4]
Bassett Hall became the Rockefellers' residence during their twice-annual visits to Williamsburg.[5]
Open to the Public
The Rockefeller family bequeathed Bassett Hall to Colonial Williamsburg in 1979.[6] The home is now open to the public and appears much as it did in the 1930s and 1940s when the Rockefellers made it their home.[7] The gardens are in the Colonial Revival style.[8]
^George Humphrey Yetter (1988). "Williamsburg Before and After: The Rebirth of Virginia's Colonial Capital", p. 54. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg. ISBN0-87935-077-6
^Wright, Renee. Virginia Beach, Richmond & Tidewater Virginia including Williamsburg, Norfolk and Jamestown: A Great Destination. Woodstock, Vt.: Countryman Press, 2010, p. 161.