City: Williamsburg, VA

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (757) 220-7724

Description: Bassett Hall is the two-story, 18th-century frame house that was the Williamsburg home of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. While earlier tours of the home focused on Mrs. Rockefeller’s folk art collection, visitors now learn about the Rockefellers themselves and about their contribution to the creation of Colonial Williamsburg. Bequeathed to the foundation in 1979, the house is set on a 585-acre tract of woodlands, and the property includes a teahouse, called the Orangerie, and three original outbuildings: a smokehouse, kitchen, and dairy. Bassett Hall reopened in 2002 after undergoing renovations that include a new exhibition of the history of the Rockefellers at Bassett Hall and a return of the extensive gardens to their 1940s appearance. Open seasonally 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Wed.