07/26/2026
Virginia State Capitol — Richmond, VA — Statehouse, Number 35
Thomas Jefferson designed this one himself, modeling it on the Maison Carrée, a Roman temple in Nîmes, France. When it went up in the 1780s it was the first public building in the country built in that Roman-revival style, the blueprint for the “temple of democracy” look that spread to capitols and courthouses nationwide. It’s still the working home of the Virginia General Assembly, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, dating back to 1619.
But the centerpiece is inside. Standing in the rotunda is Jean-Antoine Houdon’s marble statue of George Washington, and it’s the real thing, not a copy. Houdon traveled to Mount Vernon in 1785 and took a plaster life mask and exact measurements of Washington while he was still alive, which makes this the only full-length statue of him ever sculpted from life. Carved from Carrara marble and unveiled in 1796, it’s regarded as the most accurate likeness of Washington in existence. It’s so accurate that more than 30 copies were cast from it and scattered to other capitols, including the one in the U.S. Capitol rotunda. A contemporary who knew Washington said nothing in stone could be more perfect. The original has stood here for over 200 years, and it’s effectively priceless. The Commonwealth has never put a number on it, and never would.
