The Ragland Mansion B&B and Events

The historic Ragland Mansion in Petersburg, Virginia, a 10,000 sq.ft. antebellum Italianate, has recently been carefully restored as a Bed and Breakfast Inn. Ragland, located in the historic Poplar Lawn district of Petersburg , offers the elegant hospitality of Virginia's plantation region. Its ample reception rooms are an ideal venue for special events such as galas, receptions, weddings and ballroom dancing. The main building is fairly close to Vignola's first design for Villa Lante (1586) north of Rome. The mansion was built in the 1850s by Reuben Ragland, a rich entrepreneur and descendant of high Welsh nobility, linked to the Tudor monarchy. It survived the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War. Later, the mansion became the residence of Alexander Hamilton, a railway magnate. During World War I, Ragland served as the first officers' club for the nearby Camp Lee military base and was the residence of General Pershing who is said to have slept in the Sycamore Room. Later, it was home to the family of Hollywood actor and Petersburg native Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles' alter ego (The Third Man, Citizen Kane). Ragland offers a ballroom, twin parlors, a solarium, a library and nine suites/master bedrooms all with private bath and period marble fireplaces. Impressive is the four-storey center hall staircase with its over 200 hand carved fleur-de-lys mahogany balusters, leading up to the belvedere or cupola which offers a panoramic view of old Petersburg, the city said have the largest 18th-century housing stock in the U.S. With its exquisite plasterwork, its inlaid floors and its fine 15th-19th century art collections, Ragland is a must-see landmark.