Stepping into the reconstructed Tryon Palace is like stepping into the 18th century. Built in 1770, the original brick Georgian structure was considered by many the finest building in the American Colonies. It was here that British Royal Governor William Tryon lived and conducted Colonial North Carolina's government.
"The public spaces are designed to impress the Colonists with the might and power of the British King," and by implication his royal representative Governor William Tryon, says a docent. And impress they do, with a grand cantilevered staircase lit by a sky dome three stories above, liberal gold leaf, crystal chandeliers, marble mantels, elaborate moldings, 16-foot ceilings and finely crafted European furnishings.
Tryon and his successor, Josiah Martin, faced increasingly rebellious Colonists. In May 1775 Martin burned the gunpowder, spiked the cannon and fled under cover of darkness.
After the Revolutionary War the palace became North Carolina's elected governor's residence and state legislative chambers until 1794, when the capitol was moved to more centrally located Raleigh. The virtually abandoned Tryon Palace burned in 1798. The west wing (stable) was the only portion that remained standing. George Street was extended over the foundations, and the palace was forgotten for 150 years,
In the mid-1950s, the palace was rebuilt on its original site using the original plans of English architect John Hawks. Furnishings approximate Tryon's inventory of possessions — a staggering display of English and American 18th-century art and antiques.
"The original cost of the palace was well over budget probably because Tryon increased the funds spent on his quarters," says a guide. "His expenditures gave the Colonists another reason to be incensed at British rule.
In the dining room — its table set with crystal, china and silver — the guide mentions the five to 21 dishes served at dinner, from fresh oysters and game to marzipan and ice cream made with river ice.
You can imagine Mrs. Tryon playing the spinet or serving tea to the ladies in the parlor while the men enjoyed port and cigars elsewhere. But it's hard to picture her writing treatises on how to build coastal forts, which the unusually well-educated woman did, according to a guide.
The opulence continues upstairs in the sitting rooms, dressing rooms and bed chambers. However, the ground level is strictly functional, the housekeeper's and steward's rooms sharing space with pantries and wine storage.
On the half-hour tour you may meet "Gov. Tryon" briefly. On a
summer Historical Drama tour you'll meet more 18th-century personalities
— perhaps dancing in the ballroom, discussing legislation or gossiping
about current events. Special events range from Gardener's Sunday
to the King's Birthday Celebration with a Highland Regiment. Period decorations
grace the palace complex during Christmas Celebration Tours. Candlelight
tours add music, wassail and additional costumed characters.
All year "servants" cook period meals in the massive fireplace of the separate kitchen building. They also spin and weave, and blacksmiths work in the stable. Costumed docents in three adjacent houses tell tales of their daily lives: shipping successes, bankruptcies, epidemics, revolution and a visit by George Washington. They never step out of character.
Wealthy John Wright Stanly, whose privateers raided British shipping, built his elegant Georgian home in 1780. His son, John Stanly Jr., inherited the house. His other son, John Carruthers Stanly, was apparently the offspring of the elder Stanly's union with a slave. Also known as "Barber Jack," he became wealthy enough from his barber shop and plantations to buy his wife, children and brother-in-law out of slavery.
The neoclassical 1830 Dixon-Stevenson House represents the rising middle class, and the six-room 1810 Robert Hay House illustrates the life of a Scottish immigrant wagon maker and his family.
The palace's 14-acre English-style gardens are exquisite, especially during fall chrysanthemum season, and the spring profusion of tulips and daffodils. Modern landscape architects designed the gardens in period style. Oyster-shell paths wind along plantings of heirloom roses, exotic Victorian-era specimens, vegetable patches, cutting gardens, and flowering trees, as well as period sculpture. Benches and a gazebo provide respite amid the blooms.
Several gardens are designed to be viewed from the palace windows, A "highly formalized naturalistic" wilderness area and other gardens surround the south lawn, which extends to the Trent River. The kitchen garden contains heirloom plant varieties, including tobacco and cotton. Gardens behind the complex's historic homes and reception center represent additional styles. In all, the gardens represent three centuries of flowers.
Tryon Palace historic sites and gardens are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday. Phone: (800) 767-1560. www.tryonpalace.org.