Peyton Randolph House — Attraction in Williamsburg

Two old geese stood guard at the house and seemed eager to escalate a situation. Gen George Washington’s public speaking had just been cancelled due to weather so we ventured down to the Randolph house for the “Freedom’s Paradox” event just after. I was already disappointed to miss General George, and was further informed that the event here was cancelled also. Expressing my disappointment, the first greeter got very defensive as if personally offended that I didn’t understand coming down here and wasting the effort to miss most outdoor events was not her problem. She also snapped at my son who inadvertently snapped a small extension branch to an oak tree. He should not have broken the branch that was in front of him but her reaction was hostile, so by the time it came to your the house, our experience was ruined. You’d think these so-called interpreters would be trained to treat visitors with some respect. After all, it’s supposed to be an experience and we are lovers of history. Visit ruined, didn’t want to come back in the afternoon,...

I generally like the Williamsburg experience and support their attempts at integrating the extent that Williamsburg was built largely on the back of African slaves. But the costumed interpreters today seemed to reflect personal agendas and opinions that oversimplified life in 18th century Williamsburg to reflect the current political views of the interpreters. This was true of both conservative and progressive interpreters. Ideally, I shouldn't know what a particular interpreter's politics are. Many places we stopped today had them in full display. A museum such as Williamsburg should challenge and introduce depth of understanding to all visitors. At the Peyton Randolph house in particular, the interpreter minimized a question about the Randolph's relationship with Native Americans. A previous interpretor had a rather confused take on the role of class and gender that reflected contemporary narratives more than historic attitudes to either gender or class (and didn't answer...

Awesome home of Peyton Randolph.

It's one of the larger homes in Williamsburg, a smaller plantation-farm home of the time. I'm assuming due to Covid19, and lack of staff, they weren't able to get the inside open in time for business so I'll have to wait for another time to see that.

However, the back end of the property was open and you're able to explore some of the slave quarters as they were focused on telling that side of the story this week.

The living historians here was great, we talked to them for a good half hour each, as they told us about the daily lives of those whom were enslaved here and how they survived.

Great informative living historians and staff that taught us somethings we never knew and brought this place alive.

Would like to return in the future for an...