The Tuleyries

The Tuleyries is a historic estate near White Post in Clarke County, Virginia, rather than a conventional consumer or corporate brand. The property is known for its antebellum mansion, agricultural land, gardens, woodland, and connection to the Blandy Experimental Farm and the State Arboretum of Virginia. Its name was created in the nineteenth century as a play on the surname of its builder, Colonel Joseph Tuley, Jr., and the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The principal house was constructed around 1833 in a late Federal architectural style. A notable feature is its domed entrance hall, which contributes to the mansion's distinctive architectural character. The estate was developed during the antebellum period by Joseph Tuley, a substantial slaveholder. This aspect places the property within the broader history of Virginia's plantation economy and gives its heritage interpretation an important historical dimension beyond its architectural significance. In 1866, after the Civil War, the Tuley family sold the property to Colonel Upton Lawrence Boyce. The estate later entered the Blandy family history when Graham Furber Blandy acquired it in 1903. Blandy engaged Philadelphia architect Mantle Fielding to restore and improve the mansion. These alterations and preservation efforts helped shape the form in which the house became known as an important historic property. Following Graham Furber Blandy's death, two-thirds of the estate was bequeathed through his estate to the University of Virginia. That portion became associated with what is now the Blandy Experimental Farm and the Virginia State Arboretum. The remaining mansion and surrounding property stayed with the Blandy family. The retained estate has been described as including approximately twenty acres of lawn and gardens together with about 386 acres of woodland and farmland, making The Tuleyries both an architectural property and a substantial rural landscape. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Its significance rests on its architecture, association with prominent Virginia landowners, landscape context, and relationship to the history of regional agricultural and botanical institutions. It is also documented through the Historic American Buildings Survey and represented in Wikimedia Commons collections. In March 2020, the manor house and approximately 406 acres were offered for sale for $5 million. In October 2023, the house and most of its historic furnishings were sold at auction for $4.1 million in connection with the bankruptcy of The Tuleyries Land Holdings LLC. The reported purchaser was the Welch Family. Publicly available reference material does not establish a conventional operating business, product portfolio, or corporate brand structure for the estate. The Tuleyries is therefore best understood as a named historic property whose identity is rooted in architecture, land ownership, preservation, and cultural heritage.

The Tuleyries is an antebellum estate located near White Post in Clarke County, Virginia. The complex was built around 1833 for Colonel Joseph Tuley, Jr., who was born in 1796 and died in 1860. Tuley was a large slaveholder, and the estate's origins are consequently connected to the labor system and social order of antebellum Virginia. The property's name is a wordplay combining the Tuley surname with the Tuileries Palace in Paris. The main residence is a late Federal-style mansion organized around a domed entrance hall. Its design and setting reflect the architectural ambitions of a major nineteenth-century Virginia estate. In 1866, the Tuley family sold the property to Colonel Upton Lawrence Boyce, who lived from 1830 to 1907. This transfer occurred during the major political, economic, and social changes that followed the Civil War. Graham Furber Blandy acquired The Tuleyries in 1903. Blandy commissioned Philadelphia architect Mantle Fielding to restore and improve the mansion. Fielding, born in 1865 and deceased in 1941, was associated with architectural work in Philadelphia and undertook the improvements that helped preserve and refine the estate's historic appearance. The Blandy period also established the property's lasting institutional significance. After Graham Furber Blandy's death in 1926, two-thirds of the estate was bequeathed through his estate to the University of Virginia. The donated land became associated with the Blandy Experimental Farm and the Virginia State Arboretum. These institutions transformed part of the historic estate into a center for agricultural experimentation, horticultural study, and public arboretum activity. The mansion and the remainder of the property continued in the Blandy family. The retained portion included the house, roughly twenty acres of lawn and garden, and approximately 386 acres of forest and farm land. The Tuleyries was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. Its heritage value encompasses its late Federal architecture, its association with the Tuley, Boyce, and Blandy families, its rural landscape, and its relationship to the development of the University of Virginia's Blandy facilities. The property has also been documented through the Historic American Buildings Survey, providing architectural and historical records beyond the National Register listing. In March 2020, the manor house and approximately 406 acres were put on the market for $5 million. The later ownership history culminated in an auction in October 2023. The house and most of its historic furnishings were sold in the bankruptcy proceedings of The Tuleyries Land Holdings LLC for a reported $4.1 million, with the Welch Family identified as the purchaser. The available reference material does not describe The Tuleyries as an operating commercial enterprise or identify a product business. Its public identity remains that of a named historic estate and cultural landmark.

• 2023

  Auction sale following bankruptcy

  [1]The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org

  The house and most of its historic furnishings were sold at auction for $4.1 million in the bankruptcy of The Tuleyries Land Holdings LLC. The Welch Family was reported as the buyer.

• 2020

  Estate offered for sale

  [1]The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org

  The manor house and approximately 406 acres were listed for sale for $5 million.

• 1972

  National Register listing

  [1]The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org

  The Tuleyries was listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.

• 1926

  Blandy estate bequest

  [1]The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org

  After Graham Furber Blandy's death, two-thirds of the property was bequeathed to the University of Virginia, becoming associated with the Blandy Experimental Farm and Virginia State Arboretum.

• 1903

  Acquisition by Graham Furber Blandy

  [1]The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org

  Graham Furber Blandy acquired the estate and later commissioned architect Mantle Fielding to restore and improve the mansion.

• 1866

  Sale to Upton Lawrence Boyce

  [1]The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org

  The Tuley family sold the property to Colonel Upton Lawrence Boyce after more than three decades of Tuley family ownership.

• 1833

  Construction of the estate

  [1]The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org

  The Tuleyries complex was built around 1833 for Colonel Joseph Tuley, Jr. The principal house was designed in a late Federal style and included a domed entrance hall.

A Virginia historic estate and cultural-heritage property distinguished by its antebellum mansion, designed landscape, agricultural and forest acreage, architectural documentation, and connection to the University of Virginia's Blandy Experimental Farm and Virginia State Arboretum.

1. 1The Tuleyriesen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Historic American Buildings Survey: Tuleyries, State Route 628 vicinity, White Post, Clarke County, Virginialoc.gov