The White House of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia

It's a good thing we had Lil' Miss GPS, or we would have never found this place!

Now buried in the hospital district of downtown Richmond, Virginia we find the home that became known as the White House of the Confederacy.

Built in 1818 for the president of the Bank of Virginia, John Brockenbrough, this home changed hands many times before being purchased by the City of Richmond just prior to the Civil War.  The City then rented it to the Confederate government to be used as the Executive Mansion.  (Just like the United States' White House, it didn't get that moniker until many years later.)

Built in neoclassical style, it is still quite handsome.  Located in what was then the upscale Shockoe Hill area, owners had neighbors such as U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall, Aaron Burr, defense attorney John Wickham, and future U.S. Senator Benjamin Watkins Leigh.  The Virginia State Capitol was just two blocks south. 

In August, 1861, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, wife Varnia, and children moved into the Executive Mansion and lived there until the evacuation of Richmond at the end of the war.  The rear entrance, or family entrance, seems to me to look more like the formal front entrance:

Due to President Davis' many health problems he worked out of the home - not unusual at the time.  This garden in the rear of the home would have been a wonderful place for him to retire to and muse over the problems of the day.

Within 12 hours of the Davis' abandoning the home and fleeing to Danville on April 2, 1865, Union Major General Godfrey Weitzel occupied this Executive Mansion, and Abraham Lincoln traveled the few miles up the James River to spend about three hours here in meetings.  He would not go upstairs, feeling that that was Davis' personal quarters, and it would be improper for someone to enter a man's "home" when that man was not present.


The headquarters for Military District Number One (Virginia) was located here during Reconstruction, and it was occasionally used as the residence of the commanding officer of the Department of Virginia.  Reconstruction in Virginia officially ended in October, 1870, and the building was then used as the first public school building in Virginia.  In 1890, the city of Richmond wanted to demolish the mansion in order to build a more modern school.   The Confederate Memorial Literary Society (CMLS) was formed with the sole purpose of saving the White House from destruction.

No picture taking was allowed inside the White House.  Most of the furnishings were sold off after the surrender, but a concerted effort by the CMLS has brought about 60% of the furnishings back.  The front entry hall has large niches holding sculptures.  These pieces never sold and so have not left their original pedestals in almost 200 years.  The most interesting thing about the entry hall is it's oval shape.  Imagine that.  Both White Houses have an oval room!