Built in 1718 for William Levingston, this house later became the St. George Tucker House in Historic Williamsburg. Built in 1718–19 for William Levingston — who incidentally built the first theater in America — this house began as a simple structure. It later came into the hands of St. George Tucker, who had moved from Bermuda to Williamsburg.
Tucker was a lawyer and professor of law at the College of William and Mary and later became a state and federal judge. In 1796 Judge Tucker wrote a controversial pamphlet addressed to the General Assembly of Virginia; in it he laid out a plan to end slavery because "the abolition of slavery was of great importance for the moral character of the citizens of Virginia. He is also famous for his 1803 edition of "Blackstone's Commentaries," an indispensable American law text.
Tucker enlarged the house over the years with chimneys, a second story, an east and west wing, a kitchen and bathrooms to accommodate his growing family. His son Nathaniel Tucker continued the tradition and made changes of his own, and the family kept extensive records. Notice the chimneys, the added second story, and the east and west wings that tell this house's long story.