History Lives at Sweet Briar College

When Sweet Briar College administrators decided to buy Tusculum and dismantle it in 2006, they sensed it was important to the history of the college and its relationship with Amherst County.

That decision has led to plans that could be more far-reaching than that — plans that will give future students a chance to learn virtually first-hand about life in the county more than 250 years ago.

Reconstructing the old house is a wonderful opportunity to preserve history not only for Sweet Briar students, but also for residents of Amherst County.

This story began about 250 years ago when Tusculum was first built off what is now U.S. 29 north of Amherst near Clifford. The old plantation house was later owned by Elijah Fletcher, father of Indiana Fletcher Williams, who founded the college. Elijah Fletcher also owned Sweet Briar House, a sister house of Tusculum that has become the campus residence of presidents of the college.

Relatives of the Williams family lived at Tusculum for much of the 1900s, but when the last of them vacated the house, it was sold and fell into disrepair. The property on which the house stood was sold and there was talk about demolishing the historic old structure, which was listed on the National Registry of Historic Homes.

The college would have none of that. So it collaborated with the Association of Virginia Antiquities and the state Division of Historic Resources to buy the old house. In 2006, the house was dismantled into carefully labeled pieces and transported to a vacant dairy barn at the college.

Sweet Briar plans to rebuild Tusculum behind Sweet Briar House on hills that slope down to the lake. The college wants to turn it into a center for community history and outreach.

Lynn Rainville, a Sweet Briar research professor, was recently named director of what will be the Tusculum Institute. She sees the historical continuities between the two structures and said, “This is now bringing together what was once two plantations separated by about 10 miles, and now they will be right next door to each other.”

Sweet Briar President Betsy Muhlenfeld also sees the importance of preserving the historic plantation. “I think it’s so important (for) a college to be able to tie the past to the present,” she said. “So many school children in this Internet age really don’t know much at all about where they came from.”

The college is now raising money to rebuild and restore the two-story house of nearly 5,000 square feet. But it will take more than that to bring the old house back to life.

Rainville said the school plans to add a modern basement level with space for offices, restrooms and possibly exhibit space. She hopes the project can get under way next year.

Muhlenfeld said that while plans are not final, she hopes another room in the building could be used to explain the architectural history of the plantation homes. “The trick is, I think, to get everybody thinking a little bit outside the box so we end up with a project that is alive and really tied to the college’s mission as well as to its history.”

Rainville added the hope that the Tusculum Institute could become a center for community outreach that will house collections of family histories and oral stories passed through generations. “There’s a tremendous amount of wonderful history here.”

She’s right. And that’s the real promise of rebuilding Tusculum at Sweet Briar. The project will help both the college and the county keep in closer touch with their deep and intertwined historical roots.