Tuleyries historic house and farm records

Content Description

This collection contains the historic home and farm records of the "Tuleyries," in Boyce, Virginia, now known as the Blandy Experimental Farm and the Virginia State Arboretum. The collection includes letters, photographs, legal documents, historic research, an account book, records, reports, maps, architectural drawings, blueprints, and a VHS tape. These materials document the owners, the land, and the historic house and farm. The Tuleyries is on both the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register and reflects important periods of Virginia history. While there is some content from Joseph Tuley, Jr., who built the Tuleyries, most of the materials reflect the Blandy and Wilson family's ownership of the property. Colonel Joseph Tuley, Jr. built the property around 1833. In 1903, Graham Blandy of New York purchased the Tuleyries house and farm from the Boyce family.  He subsequently added other nearby properties, and his holdings reached about 912 acres. He married Georgette Borland in 1908.  When he died in 1926, he bequeathed about 712 acres of his farm property, including some significant historic structures, to UVA along with a trust. He left the circa-1835 Tuleyries main house, numerous outbuildings, and about 200 acres to his widow, Georgette Blandy.  Upon her death, her sister, Alice Borland Wilson, received the home and property. Upon Wilson's death, the property passed to Orme and Mildred Wilson and their family. The Wilson's children sold the property in 2020. The collection contains some 19th-century material, such as correspondence, and an 1830s account book owned by Joseph Tuley, Jr., who built the Tuleyries. The account book shows entries related to the building of the Tuyleries, some of which housed enslaved people. However, the bulk of the collection is from the 20th century. It documents the Blandys through photographs, deeds, wills, and correspondence, as well as the historic restoration and renovation of the Tuleyries in 1990 with a top historic-preservation architect, John Milner of Chadds Ford, PA. A folder-level inventory of the collection can be found in the External Links. 

Acquisition Type

Gift

Provenance

Gift of Orme Wilson and Elsie W. Thompson, 1 May 2025.

Language of Description

English

Script of Description

Latin

Restrictions Apply

Yes

Access Restrictions

Original AV media formats such as LPs, audiocassettes, videotapes, reel-to-reel, DVD etc. cannot be handled directly by patrons. Appointments must be made to request these items. In most cases, materials must be reformatted before they can be accessed, sometimes at the researcher’s expense. Please use our online reference request form (https://small.library.virginia.edu/services/reference-request) to request access to these materials or for further information.

Use Restrictions

This collection contains some in-copyright material. Visit our Permissions and Publishing page for more information about use of Special Collections materials. The library can provide copyright information upon request, but users are responsible for making their own determination about lawful use of collections materials.