Construction of Rosewell was begun in 1725 by Mann Page I (1691–1730), son of Matthew Page and Mary Mann and grandson of planter
Colonel John Page of
Jamestown and
Middle Plantation. Page was educated in England at
Eton College and
Oxford University. Shortly after his return to North America, Page was appointed to the Governor's Council of the Virginia Colony. He married about 1712. His first wife died in 1716 from complications following the birth of their third child, son Mann Page, who also died. In 1718 Page had married Judith Carter (1695–1750), a daughter of
Robert "King" Carter and his first wife Judith Armistead. They had five children together, including a son named Mann Page II (1718-1778) and an infant that died in 1728, at birth. Page had intended to build a mansion to rival or exceed in size and luxury the newly completed
Governor's Palace in
Williamsburg. After he died in 1730, his widow Judith Page inherited the property. The primary construction materials were
brick,
marble, and
mahogany, some of which was imported from England. Architectural historians believe that the house, double the size of the Governor's Palace, may have been designed by Mann Page himself. Larger than any residence built in colonial Virginia, Rosewell probably owed its design to the London townhouses built to the stricter codes following the
Great Fire of London. Their son
Mann Page II (1718-1778) supervised completion of the mansion after reaching manhood. By then the Page family was strapped for cash due to the cost of building the great house, and Page II ultimately sold off a significant portion of his vast land holdings to fund its completion. Page descendants continued to hold and occupy Rosewell for 100 years. In 1837 the Page family sold the mansion to Thomas Booth. He made changes, removing the parapet and two octagonal rooftop cupolas from the house. The lead roof was stripped off and sold, as were the mansion's carved marble mantles and much of its fine interior woodwork. The flat roof was replaced with a low hip roof with a single cupola surrounded by a
widow's walk. The plantation passed through several more owners. In 1916 a fire broke out and destroyed Rosewell mansion. Today, the remains of the house is a largely undisturbed historic ruin. The site has been the subject of
archaeological work. This has revealed many artifacts and shed light on some aspects of colonial life and architecture that were previously unclear. The property was listed in 1969 on the
National Register of Historic Places. From the
colonial period to the
Civil War, Rosewell planters held slaves to work as field hands and as house servants: valets and personal maids, cooks and housemaids. Such large plantations were essentially self-sufficient, so numerous slaves also performed skilled trades such as carriage driver and caring for horses and carriages,
blacksmithing, woodworking, and butchering at the plantation. They raised all the vegetables and produce for the owners and often some for themselves.
Page family of Virginia of Rosewell, father of
Mann Page III John Page (1743–1808) became a politician, being elected and serving as
Governor of Virginia. A grandson of Mann Page (I) and son of Mann Page II, he had grown up at Rosewell. He attended the
College of William and Mary (class of 1763) in nearby
Williamsburg, where he was a classmate of
Thomas Jefferson, also of the planter class. He fought during the
American Revolutionary War, attaining the rank of colonel. In addition to serving as governor, he served multiple terms in the
U.S. Congress and the
Virginia General Assembly. Other notable members of Virginia's Page family include
Colonel John Page of
Jamestown and
Middle Plantation and father of Mann Page I; Governor Page's brother
Mann Page III;
Thomas Nelson Page, U.S. Ambassador to Italy;
William Nelson Page, known for building the
Virginia Railway;
Thomas Jefferson Page, officer in United States Navy and Captain in the Confederate States Navy; and Confederate General
Richard Lucian Page. ==Description==