Historic Williamsburg

29. Charlton House

Williamsburg, VA

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Williamsburg wigmaker Edward Charlton purchased the Charlton House around 1772. He operated a business next door to the house selling wigs, also known as perukes. Charlton provided hairstyling and barbering services as well, and sold soaps, lice treatments and other personal care products to prominent customers such as Peyton Randolph, George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. Edward was evidently indebted in some way to his brother Richard's family, because after Richard's death in 1779 Edward signed his property over to Richard's estate. The house remained in the Charlton family until 1795. The last private owner of the home, Mary L. Servient, sold the property to W.A.R. Goodwin on behalf of Colonial Williamsburg in 1917, under a lifetime tenancy agreement. At the time of its restoration, the Charlton House was known as the Servient House. The dwelling had undergone significant changes since the eighteenth century. It had been cut in half along its east-west axis at some point, and the original chimneys had been destroyed in the process. Several badly-constructed wings had been added to the back of the house, and an ornate nineteenth-century porch largely covered the front portion. All of the nineteenth-century features were removed during the renovation process.