Sherwood Forest Plantation

John Tyler bought this estate in 1842 while serving as the tenth president, having been read out of his own party — and named it Sherwood Forest on the grounds that he had been made an outlaw. He retired here in 1845 and his descendants still own and occupy the house.

The building is the oddity: a clapboard house extended piecemeal until it ran to roughly 90 m end to end, usually described as the longest frame house in America. The ballroom at the far end was added for dancing the Virginia reel. The grounds carry a marked walking route past outbuildings, a terraced garden, an 80-tree arboretum and a pet cemetery.

Practical: self-guided grounds tour with a printed map, paid by honesty box, typically half an hour to an hour. House tours are by advance appointment only and cost considerably more.