Governor's Palace

The residence of seven royal governors and then of Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson as the first two governors of the Commonwealth — and, from 1706 to 1788, the tallest building in Virginia. The original burned in 1781 while serving as a hospital for the wounded of Yorktown; the present building is a 1930s reconstruction based on a floor plan Jefferson himself had drawn.

The entrance hall is the thing people remember: hundreds of muskets, pistols and swords arranged in geometric patterns across the walls and ceiling, an unsubtle statement about who held power. Beyond it are formal state rooms, a ballroom wing, and behind the house ten acres of gardens including a holly maze and a terraced falling garden down to the fish pond.

Practical: the largest building in the historic area and the busiest — tours run every twenty minutes or so and queues of half an hour are normal on weekends. Requires a Colonial Williamsburg ticket. The gardens alone justify the wait.