Ragland Mansion

This 10,000-square-foot antebellum Italianate was restored as a Bed and Breakfast in 1998. Ragland, located in the historic Poplar Lawn district of Petersburg, offers elegant southern hospitality.

The main building closely resembles Vignola’s first design for Villa Lante (1586) north of Rome. The mansion was built in the 1850s by Reuben Ragland, a wealthy entrepreneur and descendant of high Welsh nobility linked to the Tudor monarchy.

It survived the siege of Petersburg during the Civil War. Later, the mansion became the residence of Alexander Hamilton, a railway magnate. During World War I, the building served as the first officer’s club for the nearby Fort Greg-Adams and was the residence of General Pershing, who is said to have slept in the Sycamore Room. Later, it was home to the family of Hollywood actor and Petersburg native Joseph Cotten, Orson Well’s alter ego in Citizen Kane and Third Man.

Ragland offers a ballroom, twin parlors, a solarium, and period marble mantles. Impressive is the four-story center hall staircase with its over 200 hand-carved fleur-de-lis mahogany balusters leading to the belvedere or cupola, which offers a panoramic view of old Petersburg. The city is said to have the largest 18th-century housing stock in the U.S. With its exquisite plasterwork, inlaid floors, and fine art collections, Ragland is the best-kept secret in Petersburg, a must-see landmark.