Wilton House Museum is a museum in a historic house located in Richmond, Virginia. Wilton was constructed c. 1753 by William Randolph III, son of William Randolph II, of Turkey Island. Wilton was originally the manor house on a tobacco plantation known as "World's End" located on the north bank of the James River several miles east of the city of Richmond. Between 1747 and 1759, William III acquired more than a dozen contiguous tracts of land. About 1753, Randolph completed building a Georgian manor house, which he named "Wilton," on a site overlooking the river. In 1934, with commercial development encroaching on the opposite bank of the James and the property in danger of foreclosure, The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Virginia saved the mansion from destruction by purchasing, dismantling, moving, and rebuilding it on a site overlooking the James River a few miles west of its original location. Ironically the farm just east of the Pocahontas Parkway, where Wilton once stood remains devoted to agriculture in the 21st century. Open to the public since 1952, Wilton hosts a collection of 18th- and 19th-century furnishings, textiles, glass, ceramics, and silver that reflect the wealthy planter life of the mid-18th century. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Architectural style Wilton is built in the Georgian style of architecture, which was the prevailing style during the Colonial era in New England and the Southern colonies. Colonial Georgian architecture differed slightly from region to region, depending on climate and locally available building materials, but generally followed a symmetrical, rectangular plan with simple, dignified lines ultimately deriving from Palladian architecture. History of the house Randolph family During the 17th century the Randolph family of Virginia was among the wealthiest and most powerful families in Colonial Virginia. William Randolph and his wife, Mary Isham Randolph, have been referred to as "the Adam and Eve of Virginia," whose many distinguished descendants included President Thomas Jefferson, Chief Justice John Marshall, and General Robert E. Lee. Wilton was constructed circa 1753 for William III and his wife, Anne Harrison Randolph, on a 2,000-acre plantation overlooking the James River. William Randolph III was a planter and public servant: a member of the House of Burgesses for Henrico County, an officer in the militia, and a vestryman for Henrico Parish. Wilton was constructed for William