Visit Drayton Hall
Explore an Architectural Treasure
About the App

Built in the mid-18th century by John Drayton, Drayton Hall is one of the most significant extant plantation houses in the United States. Unlike many of its neighbors, Drayton Hall survived the chaotic and destructive finale of the Civil War and has remained remarkably unchanged over the course of its almost 300 year history. Important for many reasons, including as a site for educating the public on the plantation and slave economy of the antebellum South, it is also known for its stunning Palladian architectural details and the care with which it has been preserved.

This application was developed as a demonstration project for ways in which 3D mapping technology can be applied to historic sites that were closed due to the pandemic and are in need of digital tools that can provide a virtual tour experience. To take a virtual tour of Drayton Hall click the 'Take a Tour' button in the lower left corner of the screen.

All building models were developed using a combination of SketchUp and Esri's CityEngine by the author and were created using plans drawn by the Historic American Building Survey.

All images included in this application were either taken by the author or were sourced from the Library of Congress (LOC) and have no copyright restrictions - either because of their age or because they were produced by the US Federal Government - or have a Creative Commons license. The vast majority of the images and plans were produced by the National Park Service’s Historic American Building Survey and are available for download from the LOC.

Application copyright © 2021 Daniel H. Watts