Edge Hill, also known as Edgehill and Edgehill Farm, is a historic

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

located near

Shadwell Shadwell is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England. It also forms part of the city's East End of London, East End. Shadwell is on the north bank of the River Thames between Wapping (to the west) and Ratcliff and ...

Albemarle County Albemarle County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Ch ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, United States.

Early history

William Randolph William Randolph I (bapt. 7 November 1650 – 21 April 1711) was an English-born planter, merchant and politician in Colony of Virginia, colonial Virginia who played an important role in the development of the colony. Born in Moreton Morrell, W ...

of Tuckahoe acquired 2400 acres as a land grant from King George II in 1735, and it was inherited by his son Thomas Mann Randolph, Sr. of Tuckahoe. In 1790, he gave it and his Varina plantation near Richmond to his son Thomas Mann Randolph, Jr. as a wedding gift when the younger Randolph married

Martha Jefferson Martha Skelton Jefferson ( ''née'' Wayles; October 30, 1748 – September 6, 1782) was the wife of Thomas Jefferson from 1772 until her death. She served as First Lady of Virginia during Jefferson's term as governor from 1779 to 1781. She died ...

, daughter of Virginia governor and U.S. President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

. The younger Randolphs came to prefer the cooler mountain air of Albemarle County, so they built a one-story, wood-frame structure on the property about 1799, but they preferred living at

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary residence and plantation of Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father, author of the Declaration of Independence, and the third president of the United States. Jefferson began designing Monticello after inheriting l ...

. Randolph Jr. acted as an overseer at Jefferson's plantation as well as ran this one, but also ran up and inherited great debt. The current two-story, brick main house dates from 1828, and was rebuilt in 1916, after a fire gutted the interior.

Thomas Jefferson Randolph Thomas Jefferson Randolph (September 12, 1792 – October 7, 1875) of Albemarle County was a Virginia enslaver, soldier and politician who served multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, as rector of the University of Virginia, ...

, one of Randolph Jr.'s sons who became

's favorite grandson and beneficiary of his papers as well as executor of his estate, acquired his debt-ridden father's estate (house, land and slaves) at an auction on January 2, 1826. About two years later, he hired William B. Phillips and Malcolm F. Crawford (local master mason and master carpenter, respectively) to build this house in the style of Monticello (which often can be viewed from it), the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

and other historic Charlottesville properties.

Edge Hill School for Girls

That original Edgehill structure remains on the property, having been rolled to the hilltop and used as a private academy run by Jane Hollins Nicholas Randolph beginning in 1829 until about 1850 and as an academy for young ladies from 1867 until 1900, as well as used an office.

Later years

The property passed out of the Randolph family in 1902, following the death of Carolina Ramsay Randolph. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982.

References

External links

Journey through Hallowed Ground: Edgehill
Jefferson family residences Randolph family residences Houses in Albemarle County, Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia Presidential homes in the United States Greek Revival houses in Virginia Federal architecture in Virginia Houses completed in 1821 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Albemarle County, Virginia Rebuilt buildings and structures in Virginia Brick buildings and structures in Virginia {{Virginia-struct-stub