The house, built in the period 1700–22, is shaded by huge trees and

fronted by a spacious lawn. It is a large, two-story, clapboarded-frame

structure of saltbox design. The gable roof slopes steeply at the rear.

Exterior windows are topped by projecting cornices; the center door, by

a rectangular transom. A one-story kitchen wing with front porch at the

northeast end of the house along the main axis was added early in the

19th century.

[Illustration: Huntington Birthplace.]

The floor plan is typical of a central chimney New England dwelling.

Behind a short central entrance hall, which contains an L-shaped

stairway, is a large stone central chimney with three fireplaces. Two

of these heat the parlor and dining room, entered from the hall; a

huge third one serves the large original kitchen, which ranges across

the rear two-thirds of the house behind the dining room and chimney.

A small bedroom is situated back of the parlor alongside the original

kitchen, between it and the one-story new kitchen addition. Three

additional bedrooms, one of which has a fully paneled fireplace wall,

are located upstairs. Wallpaper has been added to some of the rooms,

but the fireplaces, wainscoting, and wide-board floors are original.

The privately owned house, which is in good condition and little

altered, has never been restored, though some modern conveniences have

been installed. It is not open to the public.

Huntington House, Connecticut  ‎⊗

_Location: New London County, 34 East Town Street, Norwich._

Samuel Huntington erected this house in the years 1783–85 and lived in

it until his death in 1796. Since that time, the frame dwelling has

been extensively modified on both the exterior and interior and a major

addition made at the rear.

[Illustration: Huntington House.]

Originally the residence was a large, two-story, rectangular structure

with a gable roof, two interior chimneys, tall corner pilasters, and

triangular pediments above the first-story windows. By the middle of

the 19th century, however, the structure had been remodeled in Greek

Revival style, including the construction of a two-story portico across

the entire front, or north, side, and in the center of this facade a

central two-tiered porch. Later in the century, the portico and the two

interior chimneys were removed. Sometime during the century, a large

two-story section was added to the rear of the house, and a projecting

two-story bay on the west side.

The present two-tiered porch at the entrance is a modern replacement

whose design differs considerably from the earlier one. Four large

Doric columns support it, and a railing runs around the second-story

level. The east entranceway consists of a one-story portico with an

elliptical plan and Doric columns. Other modern features include

clapboarding and window sash.

The central hall, extending from the entranceway through the rest of

the house and rear addition, has always dominated the floor plan, which

otherwise has been completely obliterated. Interior partitions have

either been removed to create larger rooms or added to make smaller

ones. Stairs are located in the front and rear of the hall. Little, if

any, of the original interior finish remains.

The house, also known as the Governor Huntington House, in excellent

condition, is owned and occupied by a charitable organization and

is not open to the general public. Huntington’s remains rest in the

adjacent Old Burial Ground.

Williams Birthplace, Connecticut  ‎⊗

_Location: New London County, on the west side of Conn. 87 at the

south end of the commons, Lebanon._

William Williams was born in this house in 1731 and lived in it until

1755, when his father gave him a residence elsewhere in Lebanon.

Constructed about 1712 by Rev. Samuel Welles, a Congregational

minister, it later came into the possession of Rev. Solomon Williams,

the signer’s father, and is also known as the Welles-Williams House.

Over the years, considerable alteration has occurred.

The rectangular frame structure is two stories high with a gable roof.

Exterior louvered shutters flank the windows on both stories. The

Greek Revival architrave of the central door was added about 1830. A

one-story ell, containing a kitchen and part of the dining room, is

located at the rear southwest corner of the house. A barn has been

built on the end of the ell. A more recent one-story frame wing extends

from the southeast rear corner. The residence was recently covered with

clapboard.

[Illustration: Williams Birthplace.]

In modern times the original large central stone chimney has been

replaced by a much smaller brick one, which provides a fireplace for

the present living room. This has resulted in a major revamping of the

typical central chimney floor plan. It once consisted of two tiers of

four rooms but today is divided into large living room, dining room,

and parlor, plus a bath, and three bedrooms upstairs. Two of the latter

originally had fully paneled walls. Only one is paneled today.

The house, a private residence not accessible to the public, is in good

condition.

Williams House, Connecticut  ∆

_Location: New London County, southeast corner of the junction of

Conn. 207 and Conn. 87, Lebanon._

Of the two extant residences of William Williams, this house, where he

lived the greater part of his life, is less altered. His father, Rev.

Solomon Williams, acquired it in 1748 and 7 years later presented it to

William, who resided there until his death in 1811.

The dwelling is a two-story, rectangular frame building. A long,

1½-story service wing extends from the center of the rear of the

house. The original clapboard siding, covered with asbestos shingles

in the 1930’s, has recently been reexposed. The front entranceway, in

the Greek Revival style, was probably constructed about 1830. Other

exterior changes to the main house are limited to the lowering of the

two original interior chimneys on the back side of the ridge of the

gabled roof, the addition of a brick chimney at the north end, and the

insertion of a one-story bay window in the living room at the south end.

[Illustration: Williams House.]

The central hall divides each floor into two large rooms. Downstairs,

to the north of the hall, which incorporates the original stairway, is

a parlor, whose entire fireplace wall is still covered with the old

paneling; to the south of the hall is the living room. Its entranceway

from the hall has been widened and two columns inserted. Upstairs are

two bedrooms with fully paneled fireplace walls. The six original

fireplaces, except for the one in the kitchen, have been closed up,

but their mantels have been left in place. All the original wide

floorboards remain. The rear service wing contains a dining room and

kitchen on the first floor and four small bedrooms above.

The well-preserved house is today a private home and is not open to the

public.

Wolcott House, Connecticut  ∆

_Location: Litchfield County, on the east side of South Street

nearly opposite its intersection with Wolcott Avenue, Litchfield._

Oliver Wolcott erected and occupied this residence in 1753, some 2

years after he moved from Windsor to Litchfield, and lived in it until

he died in 1797. Except for a major rear addition, it has been only

slightly altered.

[Illustration: Wolcott House.]

The two-story, frame structure has a gable roof, a large central

chimney, and slight overhangs at the gable ends. Attached to the south

end of the house on the main axis is a small, 1½-story frame wing with

gambrel roof. A one-story porch, added by Wolcott about 1783, extends

across this wing. The roof of the porch is of the coved, or “barrow,”

type. The walls of the main house and wing are covered with clapboards,

and the windows have louvered shutters. Triangular pediments cap the

first-story windows. The center door, topped by a round arch fanlight,

is sheltered by a Federal period broken-pediment portico supported by

two fluted columns.

Later additions include small bay windows on each side of the

chimney in the south end wall of the south wing; a wide dormer in

the west, or front, upper story of the wing; and a two-story, frame,

clapboard-covered service wing, added in the 1880’s at the northeast

corner on the rear of the main house, which gave the structure its

present L-shape. The service wing, which cannot be seen from the

street, contains the present kitchen and servants’ workrooms and

bedrooms.

The floor plan of the main house is the central chimney type. To the

rear of the short central hall, which is equipped with the original

L-shaped stairway and divides this portion of the house into two tiers

of rooms, is the central chimney. On the first floor, to the north of

the hall, is the dining room; to the south, the parlor. The fireplace

walls in both rooms are fully paneled, and the floors have wide boards.

Back of the parlor, a hall leads on the south to the morning room, or

bedroom, in the south wing; and on the north, to the original kitchen,

which contains a large fireplace. Four bedrooms occupy the second story

of the main house, two of them featuring paneled overmantels, and one

bedroom is located on the second floor of the south wing.

One of Wolcott’s descendants, who acquired and restored the house about

1920, resides in it today. In excellent condition, it is the oldest

extant structure in Litchfield Historic District, a National Historic

Landmark relating primarily to colonial architecture. The house is not

accessible to the public.

The White House, District of Columbia  ∆

_Location: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Washington._

Signers John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the first two occupants of

the White House, official residence of our Nation’s Presidents since

1800. It is a national shrine that symbolizes the honor and dignity of

the highest office in the land, and has been the scene of many historic

events and brilliant social affairs. Like the Nation itself, it bears

the influences of successive Chief Executives. Although rebuilt and

modernized, it retains the simplicity and charm of its original

appearance.

[Illustration: South facade of the White House.]

President George Washington approved the plans for the White House,

drawn by Irish-born James Hoban, winner of the prize competition.

Maj. Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the French artist-engineer, located the

mansion in his plan of the Federal City, in which it and the Capitol

were the first public buildings erected. The cornerstone was laid on

October 13, 1792. Workmen used light gray sandstone from the Aquia

Creek Quarries, in Virginia, for the exterior walls. During the course

of construction or soon thereafter, they apparently were painted

white. The building was thus unofficially termed the “White House” from

an early date, but for many years it was usually referred to as the

“President’s House” or the “President’s Palace.”

[Illustration: North facade of the White House in 1807.]

In the Palladian style of architecture, the main facade resembles

the Duke of Leinster’s mansion in Dublin. Hoban probably derived

the details of other faces and the interior arrangement from

other contemporary European mansions. He supervised the original

construction; the rebuilding after the burning by British forces, in

1814; and the erection of the north and south porticoes, some years

later. Over the course of time, however, various architects modified

Hoban’s original plans, notably Benjamin H. Latrobe during and after

the Jefferson administration.

President and Mrs. John Adams were the first occupants, in November

1800 when the Government moved from Philadelphia to Washington. The

interior had not yet been completed, and Mrs. Adams used the unfinished

East Room to dry the family wash. During Jefferson’s administration

the east and west terraces, or pavilions, were built. Jefferson, who

practiced democratic simplicity in his social life, opened the mansion

each morning to all arrivals.

During the War of 1812, British forces captured the city and set the

torch to the White House, the Capitol, and other Government buildings

in retaliation for the destruction by U.S. troops of some public

buildings in Canada. Only the partially damaged exterior walls and

interior brickwork of the White House remained in the spring of 1815

when reconstruction began. In 1817 the recently elected President,

James Monroe, was able to occupy the structure. In 1824 builders

erected the south portico; and in 1829, the large north portico over

the entrance and driveway. The west wing, including the President’s

oval office, was added during the first decade of the 20th century. The

east wing was built in 1942.

Over the years, the White House proper has been extensively renovated

and modernized on various occasions. The old sandstone walls have been

retained, however. The aim has been to keep the historical atmosphere

while providing a more livable home for the President and his family.

Located on the first floor of the main building are the East Room,

Green Room, Blue Room, Red Room, State Dining Room, and Family Dining

Room. These richly furnished rooms are open to the public on a special

schedule. The ground and second floors are restricted to the use of the

presidential family and guests. On the ground floor are the Diplomatic

Reception Room, Curator’s Office, Vermeil Room, China Room, and

Library. The second floor contains the Lincoln Bedroom, Lincoln Sitting

Room, Queens’ Bedroom (Rose Guest Room), Treaty Room, Yellow Oval Room,

and Empire Guest Room. Neither of the wings, reserved for the President

and his staff, are ordinarily accessible to the public.

The simple dignity of the White House is enhanced by the natural beauty

of its informal but carefully landscaped grounds.

College Hill, Georgia  ∆

_Location: Richmond County, 2216 Wrightsboro Road, Augusta._

In 1795 George Walton built this house on the western outskirts of

Augusta on land that had been granted him by the State of Georgia in

1787. He lived in it until his death in 1804.

[Illustration: College Hill.]

The handsome, two-story, frame structure features weatherboarded and

clapboarded walls, a gable roof, and a brick chimney at each end.

Of special interest is the two-tiered veranda extending across the

entire main facade. At its front and sides on both levels are a series

of segmental arches supported by delicate square columns on high

pedestals. The fine balustrade is composed of delicate, sheaf-like

balusters. Central double doors are located on the front of both

stories. The doors are framed by pilasters and sidelights and topped

by segmental fanlights. The windows have exterior louvered shutters.

A one-story kitchen, added in 1898, extends from the southwest rear

corner of the house.

The central hall, which contains a U-shaped stairway, divides the main

section of the structure into two pairs of rooms. The larger front two

are equipped with fireplaces and have original mantels decorated in the

Adam style. Behind the main hall is a smaller rear hall. The hall walls

are plastered, and the board walls of the principal rooms are covered

with paper and wainscoting. Five bedrooms occupy the second floor. The

original kitchen was situated in a separate building that is no longer

extant.

Known today as the Walton-Harper House, since 1885 College Hill has

been owned by the Harper family, descendants of Walton. Little altered

but never restored, it is a private residence and is not shown publicly.

Meadow Garden, Georgia  ‎⊗

_Location: Richmond County, 1320 Nelson Street, Augusta._

About 1790 Gov. George Walton moved from Savannah to Augusta, then the

capital. At that time, he built Meadow Garden cottage at the northern

edge of the city, on confiscated Loyalist lands in his possession. He

resided in it until 1795, the year he constructed and occupied a larger

home, College Hill, just west of Augusta. He deeded Meadow Garden under

trusteeship to Thomas Watkins, who later conveyed it to George Walton,

Jr. Over the years, it has been doubled in size and otherwise altered.

[Illustration: Meadow Garden.]

Meadow Garden was originally a modest 1½-story cottage of frame

construction built over a high brick basement. The gable roof was

pierced by two front dormers and an interior central chimney. Windows

were located in the gable ends. An entrance door and hall were situated

on the western bay of the south facade, which had three bays. Two

rooms on the first floor opened off the east of the hall, and the

basement contained two more finished rooms.

Sometime after 1800 the house was enlarged and converted into a

central hall type by a major three-bay wide extension to the west of

the side hall, which became the central hall. The gable roof of the

original building was extended over the new portion, which was also

equipped with an interior chimney. About 1903 a single dormer was

added to the extension. The two first-floor rooms in the addition,

which lacks a cellar, are about two steps lower than the two in the

original structure. The second floor of the present house contains four

bedrooms. A one-story porch, probably not original, extends across the

front, or south, side. Its Doric columns rest on square pedestals and

are linked by a light balustrade. About 1903 a one-story kitchen was

added to the rear northwest corner of the house.

Many interior features are intact, but the plaster walls are covered

with paper. The southwest room, or library, located in the 1800

addition and restored in 1969, contains an excellent late Georgian

mantel and overmantel. The building has been roofed with modern

material.

The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution

acquired the residence in 1900, and the following year opened it to

visitors. In 1960 the National Society presented it to the State

Society. It is currently operated as a historic house museum by the

Augusta Chapter. A caretaker’s residence is located on the grounds.

Tabby Cottage, Georgia  ‎⊗

_Location: Liberty County, on St. Catherines Island, which is

located about 10 miles off the Georgia coast southeast of Midway

between St. Catherines and Sapelo Sounds._

The original portion of this structure, today an eight-bedroom house

and the main building on St. Catherines Island, may have been built

by Button Gwinnett in 1765 when he purchased the island, on which he

resided until his death in 1777 at Savannah. In 1929 the owner of the

island extensively remodeled the gable-roofed building. He retained

its basic shape and preserved many of its features, including mantels,

stair rail, and wide-board, hand-pegged floors. To the rear at a right

angle on one side he added a 1½-story wing, also with gable roof, which

more than doubled the floor space. The original, or front, section of

the house, also 1½ stories in height, was constructed of “tabby,” a

mixture of lime, ground from burned oyster shells, with sand, shells,

and water. The wing is of frame with a stucco finish. Both parts of

the residence are now roofed with Ludowici tile and feature dormers,

interior chimneys, and shuttered exterior windows.

Other tabby structures on the island include seven guest cottages and

about a dozen slave quarters, all probably dating from the early 19th

century. Many of them are in ruins but some are in good condition.

Elsewhere are four present employee residences, as well as several

barns and maintenance buildings. Boundaries of old cotton and tobacco

fields are discernible, as well as dozens of Indian burial mounds. Of

special interest, between Persimmon Point and Wamassee Head, is the

undisturbed site of the Mission of Santa Catalina (1566-ca. 1684), a

Spanish mission. None of the buildings remain, but potsherds and other

surface debris are plentiful.

When this volume went to press, the National Survey of Historic Sites

and Buildings was making a further study of Tabby Cottage to determine

the exact degree of its authenticity in relation to Gwinnett. Privately

owned St. Catherines Island, not accessible to the public, has already

been accorded National Historic Landmark status because of its

associations with Spanish exploration and settlement.

Whipple Birthplace, Maine  ‎⊗

_Location: York County, 88 Whipple Street, Kittery._

William Whipple, a signer from New Hampshire, was a native of Kittery,

now in Maine but then in Massachusetts. Born in this house in 1730, he

probably lived in it until, like many boys of the locality, he went to

sea. About 1760 he abandoned his life as a seaman and took up residence

in Portsmouth, N.H.

This handsome frame residence, the only one extant associated with a

signer in Maine, occupies a picturesque setting on a small cove along

the Piscataqua River. The two-story building has been considerably

altered and enlarged over the years, but it is in excellent condition

and rests on original foundations. It has been painted red since at

least 1873.

[Illustration: Whipple Birthplace.]

In its present form the house is Georgian in style with a central

hall plan. The exterior walls are clapboarded. On the east, or

front, elevation a round arch window on the second story sits over a

pedimented center door. The ell at the rear is a 20th-century addition.

A slight overhang on the south end of the house indicates that it may

once have been a garrison house, and that the upper story projected

over the first. This portion of the house was constructed of hemlock,

square-dovetailed at the corners. At some later date, the structure

was enlarged, and in the mid-19th century the exterior was completely

renovated.

The residence originally featured a center chimney floor plan. In the

19th century the central chimney was removed and a center hall with

stairway added, as well as two small interior chimneys with fireplaces,

one at each side of the hall. On the first floor, to the south of the

hall, is the bedroom where Whipple was born; to the north, a large

parlor. The original kitchen is located to the rear, or west, of the

center hall and parlor.

Privately occupied, the house is not open to the public.

Carroll Mansion, Maryland

_Location: Anne Arundel County, Duke of Gloucester Street, between

Newman and St. Marys Streets, Annapolis._

Charles Carroll III of Carrollton was born in 1737 at this townhouse,

which his father had probably built about 1735. Around the age of 11,

young Carroll traveled to Europe for an education and did not return to

Maryland until 1765. Thereafter, he lived mainly at Doughoregan Manor

but utilized his birthplace, which he inherited from his father, when

in Annapolis. In 1804, when he retired from public life, he closed it

up. In 1870 one of his granddaughters deeded the house and property to

the Redemptionist Fathers of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, which had been

built in 1858–60 on adjacent lands also donated by the Carrolls.

[Illustration: Carroll Mansion.]

Carroll Mansion, a brick rectangular structure constructed in Flemish

bond, rises 2½ stories over a basement. Belt courses mark the first-

and second-floor levels on the north and south sides. Segmental arches

head the windows. Two massive chimneys penetrate the slate-covered

gable roof. They are located at what may have been the original gable

ends. Five gabled dormers protrude from the south side of the roof;

four from the north. A wood cornice with dentils and modillions

extends along the sides and up the gables at the ends.

Exterior alterations include the addition of a one-story basement at

the east, or present rear, end of the residence and a one-story porch

and entrance at the west end. The front entrance, probably dating from

the early or mid-19th century, is highlighted by a rectangular transom

and sidelights. The original entrance was apparently located in the

center of the north side of the house, where a passageway, erected in

1858, now connects it to St. Mary’s Church.

Interior alterations have practically obliterated the original floor

plan. A stair hall occupies a central compartment at the north side,

and the stairs appear to be original. Only two major rooms retain some

of their original finish. A large one on the south side of the first

floor, now used as a chapel, has walls paneled in plaster and a plaster

cornice. Another, at the east end, features a plaster cornice, a

ceiling divided by triple panels, and a wooden mantelpiece.

The building, in fair condition, is used as a residence by the

Redemptionist Fathers and is not accessible to the public. It is part

of Colonial Annapolis Historic District.

Carrollton Manor, Maryland  ‎⊗

_Location: Frederick County, on the south side of Manor Wood Road,

immediately east of the East Alco Aluminum Company Plant, just west

of Buckeystown._

In 1765 Charles Carroll, returning to Maryland after completing his

extensive education in Europe, built this home near the mouth of the

Monocacy River along Tuscarora Creek on a 10,000-acre tract of land he

had acquired from his father. Young Carroll never spent much time at

Carrollton Manor. Shortly after he had constructed it, his father died,

and he preferred to spend his time at Doughoregan Manor, the ancestral

family home in Howard County.

The rectangular manor is constructed of native limestone. It rises 2½

stories above an elevated basement. A pair of chimneys are located at

the west end of the gable roof, and a single chimney at the east end. A

later one-story addition extends from the east end. The central door,

sheltered by a one-story porch on the north, is topped by a rectangular

transom and flanked by sidelights, both probably dating from the Greek

Revival period. Dating from the same time are the two triple windows in

the first story at the rear of the house. A one-story porch that once

extended across that elevation has been removed.

[Illustration: Carrollton Manor.]

The house contains four rooms on each floor. East of the front entrance

is a stair hall and a spacious dining room; to the west, a library and

living room. Large double doors connect the living and dining rooms.

The second floor contains four bedrooms; the attic, four more.

Upon Carroll’s death, his descendants inherited the manor. In 1968 an

aluminum company bought the property and erected a large office and

plant buildings and a spur railroad track to the west of the house.

In excellent condition, though never restored, it is today used as a

company residence and is not open to visitors. A nearby chapel, erected

by Carroll, is still used as a parish church.

Chase-Lloyd House, Maryland  ∆

_Location: Anne Arundel County, 22 Maryland Avenue, Annapolis._

Although Samuel Chase began building this house in 1769 while he was

a young lawyer, he never resided in it, for he sold it unfinished in

1771 to Edward Lloyd IV, a wealthy Maryland planter and politician.

Lloyd immediately engaged architect William Buckland, newly arrived in

Annapolis, to continue construction, completed 3 years later with the

aid of local architect William Noke.

[Illustration: Chase-Lloyd House.]

The structure, one of the first three-story Georgian townhouses erected

in the American Colonies, ranks among the finest of its type in the

United States and is one of the major attractions in Colonial Annapolis

Historic District. The house rises three full stories over a high

basement. Two massive interior chimneys protrude through the broad,

low, hip-on-hip roof. The brick walls are laid in Flemish bond and

adorned by belt courses of rubbed brick at the second- and third-floor

levels. An enriched cornice embellishes the roofline. At the front,

or east, facade the axial line features a tall, projecting central

pavilion and entranceway, an arched window on the third floor, and

crowning pediment with a small bull’s-eye window.

Of particular note is the entranceway, in essentially a Palladian

motif. The three-section composition was rarely used in Georgian houses

before the Revolution. The door is topped by a fanlight and flanked by

two panels of sidelights. The three openings are framed by two engaged

Ionic columns and two Ionic pilasters which support an entablature

that becomes an open pediment over the door. The triple windows on the

second floor over the entrance door and the arched windows in the

center of the three on the third are also unusual.

The sides of the house lack architectural distinction, but in the rear

a large Palladian window within a brick arch ornaments and lights the

interior stair landing. The only exterior alterations are a three-story

wooden screened porch and adjoining steel fire escape on the south side

of the structure near the west corner.

The floor plan is typical of the center hall type of house, with

four rooms on each floor, except that lateral halls divide the front

and rear rooms. The unusually large center hall is dominated by

a magnificent stairway and a pair of free-standing Ionic columns

bearing a full entablature. A parlor, large dining room, sitting

room, and breakfast room are located on the first floor, which has

been only slightly altered. A small back stairway is adjacent to the

breakfast room. Ornamentation of the plaster ceilings and doorways is

outstanding. The dining room, the most elaborate room, contains an

imported Italian mantelpiece that is richly decorated. The second floor

is also exquisitely ornamented.

The Lloyd family owned the house until 1847, when Chase’s descendants

acquired it. In 1888 one of them bequeathed it to the Protestant

Episcopal Church for use as a home for elderly women. It is in

excellent condition and is well maintained. The first floor is open to

visitors and contains some items that belonged to the Lloyds or to the

later Chase owners. The upper two floors are utilized for the ladies’

home.

Deshon-Caton-Carroll House, Maryland  ‎⊗

_Location: 800 East Lombard Street, Baltimore._

This was the winter home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton during his

twilight years and the site of his death in 1832. Christopher Deshon, a

Baltimore merchant, built it in 1811–12, and in 1818 sold it to Richard

Caton, husband of Carroll’s youngest daughter, Mary. Carroll spent the

winters there with the couple until his demise. The rest of the time,

he resided at Doughoregan Manor in Howard County.

The Deshon-Caton-Carroll House, a good example of Classic Revival

architecture, is constructed of brick laid in Flemish bond. It stands

3½ stories high. Six pedimented dormers—three each at the south (front)

and north elevations—as well as a central chimney and two end chimneys

pierce the low gable roof. A belt course at the second-floor line and

dentil cornice at roof level, both of sandstone, extend across the

north and south elevations. Recessed rectangular panels of wood are

inserted between the second- and third-story windows of the south

and west elevations. A large semicircular window is located in the

west gable of the attic story. The wide-paneled center door at the

main entrance to the house is sheltered by an Ionic marble portico

surmounted by an iron railing.

[Illustration: Deshon-Caton-Carroll House.]

The central hall plan provides for four large rooms, two on each side

of the hallway on each of the first three floors. The front entrance

opens into a stair hall, in which an elegant spiral stairway rises in

an open well up through the three stories. A counting room for business

purposes, family dining room, breakfast room, and study occupy the

first floor. The second floor, once used primarily for recreation and

formal entertainment, contains a large parlor, formal dining room,

music room, and library. Bedrooms occupy the third floor, and the attic

at one time contained slave quarters.

The house remained in the Caton family until 1856. During the last

quarter of that century, a furniture store occupied the first floor,

and the owner divided the upper floors into apartments. In 1914 the

city of Baltimore acquired the building, and 3 years later put it

to use as the “Carroll Vocational School.” From about 1930 until

1956 the structure served as a recreation center. Subsequently the

house faced the threat of demolition, prevented by the efforts of

the Charles Carroll American Heritage Association, Inc. In 1963 the

mayor of Baltimore decided that the residence should be preserved.

Upon completion of restoration and renovation, in 1967, it was placed

under the Municipal Museum, a nonprofit corporation. This organization

operates it today for the city as a historic house museum.

Doughoregan Manor, Maryland  ∆

_Location: Howard County, on the west side of Manor Lane, about 1

mile south of Md. 144 and 8 miles west of Ellicott City._

Charles Carroll III of Carrollton preferred this manor, the ancestral

family home, over his other residences. He lived in it for most of

the period 1766–1832 rather than at Carrollton Manor or his Annapolis

townhouse. In 1717 Charles Carroll I had acquired the 10,000 acres that

originally comprised the estate. His son Charles II probably built the

main section of the mansion about a decade later. In the 1760’s Charles

III inherited it. In the 1830’s, after his death in 1832, it was

greatly enlarged. It is still owned and occupied by the Carroll family.

[Illustration: Doughoregan Manor.]

Much changed over the years, Doughoregan Manor is now an

architecturally distinguished complex of buildings united into one

long structure, about 300 feet in extent. The original manor was a

Georgian, 1½-story, brick structure with gambrel roof and two pairs of

end chimneys. A kitchen-servants’ quarters and a chapel, both probably

one-story and constructed of brick about 1780, stood detached from the

house, on the south and north respectively.

In the 1830’s Charles Carroll V undertook a comprehensive expansion

in the Greek Revival style that converted the manor to its present

five-part composition. He raised the main house to two stories and

cut off the gable roof to form a flat deck, which was balustraded and

surmounted by an octagonal cupola. At the front (east) center door

he added a one-story portico with four Doric columns. To the rear of

the residence, he attached another portico, over which he erected a

room. Along both sides of the rear portico, he constructed a covered,

one-story veranda with iron columns that extended the length of the

main house. The heights of the kitchen-servants’ quarters and the

chapel were raised and they were connected to the main house by

two-story wings, topped by unifying wooden walkways.

Inside the central part of the mansion, an oak-paneled central hall

extends from front to rear. The principal stairway is located in a

small side hall adjacent to the front of the main hall. On one side of

the main hall in the 1727 portion of the house are library and large

parlor; on the other, small parlor and dining room. The second-floor

bedrooms, remodeled in the 1830’s, were completely renovated and

redecorated about 1915. The chapel, refurbished in the 1830’s and again

after the Civil War, is in good condition and is still used as a parish

church. It is one of the few surviving private chapels in the United

States dating from the 18th century. The grave of Charles Carroll III

is located next to the altar.

The estate, comprising 2,800 acres, and mansion are well maintained.

They are not open to the public.

Habre-de-Venture, Maryland  ∆

_Location: Charles County, on the west side of Rose Hill Road,

which connects Md. 6 and Md. 225, about 1 mile north of Port

Tobacco._

In 1771 Thomas Stone built this plantation house near the busy

riverport town of Port Tobacco, Md. He lived in it during his most

politically active years, and on his death in 1787 was buried in the

adjacent family graveyard.

[Illustration: Habre-de-Venture.]

A Georgian structure of brick and frame, Habre-de-Venture consists

of five parts: a central house connected to two wings by two covered

passageways, or “hyphens.” The hyphens and wings extend southward to

form a semicircle. The main building is a 1½-story structure over an

elevated basement. It has a dormered gambrel roof flanked by external

end chimneys. The brick walls are laid in Flemish bond with glazed

headers. Center doors and full-length, one-story porches are located at

the front and rear of the house.

A center hall, with stairs set against its west wall, divides the

central unit into dining and living rooms. In 1928 the Baltimore Museum

of Art removed the elaborate hand-carved paneling in the living room;

it was subsequently replaced with a replica. The fireplace wall in the

dining room protrudes out into the room, and the flue curves back to

the wall and up to the ceiling.

To the west of the central house is the kitchen wing, a low, two-story,

gable-roofed structure with brick ends and frame sides. Its second

story, added about 1820, contains two bedrooms. The connecting

hyphen, originally gabled roof and one story in height and containing

a breakfast room, was increased to 1½ stories by the addition of a

gambrel roof with dormers to provide bathrooms for the second floor

of the main house. The east wing, a gambrel-roofed, low, 1½-story

frame structure that has one room on each floor, served as Stone’s law

office. A one-story gabled brick hyphen connects it to the main house.

Except for the alterations mentioned above, Habre-de-Venture has

changed but slightly through the years. In excellent condition and

carefully restored, it now serves as a private residence and is not

shown publicly.

Paca House, Maryland  ∆

_Location: Anne Arundel County, 186 Prince George Street,

Annapolis._

William Paca, a young, newly married lawyer, built this townhouse in

the years 1763–65 as his principal residence and occupied it until

1780. At that time, a few months after the death of his second wife, he

sold the house and moved to Wye Plantation, a country estate in Queen

Annes County he had acquired about 1760.

[Illustration: Paca House.]

The Paca House is a large, five-part Georgian structure, today part

of Colonial Annapolis Historic District. Two brick wings (kitchen and

office) sit at right angles to the main axis of the central house, to

which they are connected by brick passageways, or hyphens. The central

unit is a gable-roofed brick structure of 2½ stories over an elevated

basement. The front facade is laid in all-header bond, and the ends in

Flemish bond. The window arches, of rubbed brick, are flat. A small,

one-story frame porch, which is pedimented and done in modified Roman

Doric style, provides access to the central entrance.

Large brick chimneys rise from both ends of the central house, and

smaller ones from the wings. Three gabled dormers are situated in the

front of the main roof and two in the rear. The 1½-story wings are also

gable-roofed. The west wing and both of the hyphens had been raised to

two stories in the 19th century, but were recently lowered to their

original height.

On each side of the center hall in the main house are two rooms. The

interior has been greatly altered over the years, and portions of the

original wood and plaster finish remain only in the center hall, the

stair hall behind it, and the parlor. The main stairway is equipped

with the original Chinese Chippendale balustrade.

In 1899 the Paca House became the Carvel Hall Hotel, enlarged in 1906

by rear additions that completely hid the back of the original house.

In 1964, when the structure faced demolition, Historic Annapolis,

Inc., purchased the Paca House portion. The next year, the State of

Maryland acquired the entire property. In 1967–69 it razed the 1906

hotel additions and restored the gardens. Presently, the Maryland

Historical Trust, a public agency, holds title to the house, but

Historic Annapolis, Inc., retains all the responsibilities and rights

of ownership and administration. When this volume went to press, the

residence was undergoing an extensive restoration program and was not

accessible to the public. Historic Annapolis, Inc., plans to utilize it

as a guesthouse for visiting dignitaries, though the first floor will

be open to visitors.

Peggy Stewart House, Maryland

_Location: Anne Arundel County, 207 Hanover Street, Annapolis._

Thomas Stone purchased this Georgian residence in 1783 and until

his death 4 years later occupied it while in Annapolis, though he

maintained his home at Habre-de-Venture in Charles County. The Peggy

Stewart House was built sometime between 1761 and 1764 by Thomas

Rutland. Its owner in the period 1772–79 was Anthony Stewart, an

Annapolis merchant. In 1774 Revolutionaries forced him to burn his

ship, the _Peggy Stewart_, when he attempted to land a cargo of tea on

which he had paid taxes. Five years later, he fled to England.

[Illustration: Peggy Stewart House.]

Over the years, the rectangular brick house has been substantially

modified on both the exterior and interior. Its 2½ stories rest on an

elevated basement. At the time of a major alteration in 1894, the gable

roof was replaced by the present hip roof, which has a cutoff deck and

balustrade, and the chimneys were rebuilt in their current form. Two

gabled dormers are located at the front of the roof and one at each

side. Highlighting the ends of the house are central pavilions, which

have triangular pediments with round center windows. The chimneys cut

through the front corners of the pediments. A wooden box cornice with

frieze board below extends around the eaves. A large wing at the rear

is a later addition.

The front facade of the house is comprised of all-header bond and

the sides of English bond. The basement and first-story windows are

topped by segmental arches, but the second-story windows have flat

ones. The sills are of stone, and louvered shutters flank the first-

and second-floor windows. The front entranceway, sheltered by a small

wooden porch with a triangular broken pediment, has a paneled door that

is surmounted by a rectangular glazed transom.

In 1837 the house had 12 rooms, eight of which were equipped with

fireplaces. The original portion of the house, excluding the rear

addition, has a center hall floor plan. The stairs are set against the

east wall, beyond which is a large living room. A parlor and dining

room are situated to the west of the hall. Five bedrooms are located

upstairs. The interior of the house has been extensively remodeled in

recent times. Only one fireplace, in the southeast front room on the

second floor, retains its original mantel.

The Peggy Stewart House, also known as the Rutland-Peggy Stewart House

and the Rutland-Stewart-Stone House, is privately owned and is not open

to the public. It is part of Colonial Annapolis Historic District.

Adams (John) Birthplace, Massachusetts  ∆

_Location: Norfolk County, 133 Franklin Street, Quincy._

This was the original homestead of the Adams family and the birthplace

of John Adams. Although not architecturally impressive, it is

historically notable as the place where John Adams grew to manhood. It

is adjacent to the John Quincy Adams Birthplace.

The original house, a typical New England saltbox structure of frame

construction with a massive central chimney, was probably built

about 1681. It consisted of two lower and two upper rooms. Extensive

alterations were made over the years. The rear lean-to, built at some

unknown date in the 18th century, added two downstairs rooms and two

small upper ones, separated by a large attic.

In 1720 John Adams’ father, “Deacon” John Adams, purchased the house,

where in 1735 young John was born. He lived there until his marriage

in 1764. He and his bride moved into a residence next door that he

had inherited from his father in 1761 and 6 years later was to be the

birthplace of his son John Quincy. In 1774 John bought his birthplace

home from his brother. His public duties and legal business kept him

away most of the time. By 1783, when he and his family were in Europe,

tenants resided in both the John Adams Birthplace and the John Quincy

Adams Birthplace. In 1788, when John Adams sailed home, he settled at

“Peacefield,” or the “Old House,” now Adams National Historic Site, in

another part of Quincy. In 1803 he sold both birthplaces to his son

John Quincy.

[Illustration: John Adams and John Quincy Adams Birthplaces.]

The John Adams Birthplace remained in the possession of the Adams

family until 1940, when they deeded it to the city of Quincy. In 1896

they had given the Adams Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution,

permission to restore the residence, which the next year was made

accessible to the public. When the Adams Chapter dissolved in 1950, the

Quincy Historical Society took over the administration. In excellent

condition and still owned by the city, the house is open to the public.

Adams (John Quincy) Birthplace, Massachusetts  ∆

_Location: Norfolk County, 141 Franklin Street, Quincy._

This frame structure was John Adams’ residence and law office during

the War for Independence and the birthplace of his son John Quincy. In

1744 “Deacon” John Adams had acquired the residence, the oldest part

of which may date from 1663. In 1761 he bequeathed it to young John.

At the time of the latter’s marriage 3 years later, he moved into it

from his neighboring birthplace so that he could better accommodate his

library and set up a law office. In 1767 John Quincy was born in the

house.

Shortly thereafter, John’s growing law practice and role in public

affairs made it convenient for him to live in Boston most of the time,

but his wife and son remained in the Quincy home until after the War

for Independence. By 1783, when the family was in Europe, tenants were

occupying it. After coming back to the United States in 1788, John

Adams took up residence at “Peacefield,” or the “Old House,” now Adams

National Historic Site. In 1803 John Quincy purchased both birthplaces

from his father, and from 1805 to 1807 lived in his own birthplace.

The John Quincy Adams Birthplace is well preserved. Like the John Adams

Birthplace, it is of typical New England saltbox design, originally

comprised of two upper and two lower rooms arranged around a huge

central chimney, and has been extensively altered. John Adams added a

lean-to of two rooms at the back for use as a new kitchen during the

time he used the original kitchen as a law office-library.

In 1897 the Quincy Historical Society, aided by Adams heirs, restored

and opened the John Quincy Adams Birthplace to the public. In 1940 the

Adams family turned it over to the city of Quincy. Administered by the

Quincy Historical Society, it is accessible to the public.

Adams National Historic Site, Massachusetts ‎☑

_Location: Norfolk County, bounded by Adams Street, Furnace Brook

Parkway, and Newport Avenue, Quincy; address: 135 Adams Street,

Quincy, Mass. 02169._

Featuring the Adams Mansion, this site is a memorial to four

generations of the distinguished Adams family, who resided in it from

1788 until 1927.

John Adams (1735–1826), signer of the Declaration of Independence,

diplomat, the first Vice President, and the second President,

founded a long line of men who were outstanding in politics and

intellectual life. John Quincy (1767–1848), his son, won fame as a

diplomat, U.S. Congressman, Secretary of State, and sixth President.

Charles Francis Adams (1807–86), son of John Quincy, became a U.S.

Congressman, diplomat, and author. His four sons—John Quincy II

(1833–94), Charles Francis, Jr. (1835–1915), Henry (1838–1918), and

Brooks (1848–1927)—made notable marks in politics, literature, and

historiography.

[Illustration: Adams Mansion.]

The Adams Mansion, named “Peacefield” by John Adams but known to

some as the Vassall-Adams House and later to the Adams family as

the “Old House,” was dear and close to all of them. In 1730–31 Maj.

Leonard Vassall, a wealthy West Indian sugar planter who had come

to Massachusetts some 8 years before, built the oldest part of

the building. Comprising the front western section of the present

residence, it was a 2½-story frame structure of Georgian design with

clapboarded walls and gambrel roof. The first floor contained two rooms

separated by a central stair hall; the second floor, two bedrooms

and center hall; and the dormered attic, three smaller chambers. The

kitchen and servants’ quarters were detached.

John Adams, while still Minister to Great Britain, bought the house in

September 1787 from Vassall’s grandson, Leonard Vassall Borland, and on

his return the next year took possession. At that time, he apparently

attached the 2½-story kitchen and servants’ quarters to the rear, or

northwest, corner of the main structure. In 1800, near the end of his

Presidency, he doubled the size of the residence by adding a large,

2½-story, L-shaped wing of frame at the east end. It was constructed

in the same Georgian style as the original house and contained on the

first floor a second entry hall and staircase and the “Long Room” to

the east of the hall. Adams’ large study-library was located on the

second floor.

Other additions were made in the 19th century. In 1836 John Quincy

Adams built the passage along the back, or north, side of the structure

connecting the two rear service ells. In 1869 Charles Francis added

30 feet to the kitchen ell for additional servants’ quarters; the

following year, a detached stone library overlooking the garden; and in

1873, the stone stable. Brooks constructed the present entrance gates

in 1906.

After retiring from the Presidency in 1801, John Adams lived in the

house year round until his death in 1826. Subsequently, until Brooks’

death in 1927, other family members resided in it full time or spent

their summers there. The furnishings, to which each generation

contributed, reveal the continuity of life in the residence and the

tastes of the Adams family.

In 1946 the Adams Memorial Society donated the property to the

Federal Government. Consisting of almost 5 acres, it includes the

well-maintained house, library, garden, and stables. It may be visited

from spring until the fall.

Elmwood, Massachusetts  ∆

_Location: Middlesex County, 33 Elmwood Street, Cambridge._

This impressive 18th-century mansion, also known as the

Oliver-Gerry-Lowell House, was the residence of three men prominent

in American history: Andrew Oliver, royal Lieutenant Governor of

Massachusetts (1771–74); Elbridge Gerry, politician, diplomat, Governor

of the Commonwealth, signer of the Declaration, U.S. Representative,

and Vice President; and James Russell Lowell, author, poet, teacher,

and statesman.

In 1767 Andrew Oliver, while serving as royal secretary of

Massachusetts, erected the building. An ex-stamp tax collector and a

firm Tory, he aroused the hatred of the Whigs, who on at least one

occasion attacked his home. He died in 1774 while serving as royal

Lieutenant Governor. Some time during the War for Independence,

Oliver’s estate including the mansion, was confiscated.

[Illustration: Elmwood.]

In 1787 Elbridge Gerry, who the previous year had retired from business

in Marblehead, Mass., moved to Cambridge and purchased the estate.

He lived there for the rest of his long career in public service. In

March 1813 he took the oath of office as Vice President in his home.

Because of heavy debts, on his death in Washington, D.C., in 1814, his

Cambridge residence remained his sole real estate holding.

The mansion was also the birthplace and lifelong home of James Russell

Lowell (1819–91), one of the most distinguished men of letters of his

era, as well as a prominent U.S. diplomat. Except during the period

1877–85, when he served as Minister to Spain and Great Britain, he

lived at his birthplace, which he named “Elmwood.”

Elmwood is a large, square, clapboarded-frame structure in Georgian

style with brick-lined walls and two interior chimneys. The first- and

second-story windows are topped by cornices. Above the foreshortened

third-story windows, typical in three-story Georgian houses, runs a

boldly modillioned cornice. A balustrade encloses the low-pitched hip

roof. The most striking exterior feature, however, is the entranceway,

which is flanked by Tuscan pilasters supporting a classic entablature

decorated with a frieze. A large window rests on the entablature

parapet motif and is flanked by Ionic pilasters and topped by a

triangular pediment.

A one-story porch with balustraded roof deck on the north side of the

house, as well as a terrace on the south side, are later additions.

Located in the rear, at the northwest corner, is a two-story service

wing; in the rear, at the southwest corner, a one-story wing. Both of

them are of frame construction. All three floors in the main section

are bisected into two rooms on either side by a central hall. Portions

of the interior have been altered and modernized.

Donated to Harvard University in 1962 and now used as the presidential

residence, Elmwood is not open to the public. The house and grounds are

in fine condition.

Gerry Birthplace, Massachusetts  ‎⊗

_Location: Essex County, 44 Washington Street, Marblehead._

Elbridge Gerry was born in this framehouse and resided in it until

1787, when he moved to Cambridge, Mass. His father, Thomas, had built

it about 1730, and it remained in possession of the Gerry family until

1820.

Architectural evidence strongly suggests that the L-shaped building was

originally a two-story Georgian structure. About 1820 the two stories

were apparently raised and a third one built underneath. Since that

time, changes have been slight. The original interior finish of the

first story is entirely 19th century, and the original paneling on the

walls of the second story is clearly 18th century.

[Illustration: Gerry Birthplace.]

Today, the exterior is clapboarded. The long arm of the ell faces north

toward the street. A central hall divides the first floor of the long

arm into two rooms, the east and west parlors, both with 19th century

mantels, fireplaces, and flanking arched alcoves. The west parlor opens

into the short arm of the ell, which extends southward to the rear and

contains the dining room. Attached to the rear of the short arm is a

small rear service wing containing an L-shaped, one-story kitchen. A

one-story open veranda runs around the east and south elevations of the

long side of the ell, and a small porch flanks the dining room on its

west side. The second story contains three bedrooms, all displaying the

original 18th-century paneling on the fireplace walls. The third floor

consists of four bedrooms.

The house and grounds, privately owned and not open to the public, are

well maintained.

Hancock-Clarke House, Massachusetts  ∆

_Location: Middlesex County, 35 Hancock Street, Lexington._

The only extant residence associated with John Hancock, this was his

boyhood home. In 1744, upon the death of his father at Quincy, the

7-year-old boy came to live at this house with his grandfather, Rev.

John Hancock. In 1750 the lad joined his childless uncle, Thomas

Hancock, a wealthy Boston merchant who adopted him.

[Illustration: Hancock-Clarke House.]

By the time of the Revolution, Rev. Jonas Clarke, a relative by

marriage of the Hancocks, occupied the house, which had been built as

a parsonage by Rev. John Hancock. Clarke encouraged Revolutionaries to

use his home as a meetingplace and refuge. On the evening of April 18,

1775, patriot leaders Hancock and Samuel Adams were visiting there.

Around midnight, after everyone had gone to bed, Paul Revere and later

William Dawes, warning the countryside of the approach of British

troops, galloped up and informed the household. A few hours later,

Hancock and Adams fled northward to Burlington, Mass. They later moved

from place to place, staying away from Boston, until they proceeded to

Philadelphia to attend the Continental Congress, which convened the

next month.

The Hancock-Clarke House consists of two frame sections, erected by

Rev. John Hancock at different times. The original one, built in 1698,

presently forms the small rear ell, 1½ stories high with gambrel roof.

A living room-kitchen and tiny study are located downstairs and two

low-studded chambers upstairs. The 2½-story front, or main, section of

the house dates from 1734 and was financed by Thomas Hancock for his

father. It has a large central chimney and contains a short center hall

and two rooms on each of the two floors.

In 1896, when the building faced demolition, the Lexington Historical

Society acquired it and moved it from across the street to its present

location. In 1902 the society constructed a rear brick addition

containing a fireproof vault to protect its more valuable possessions.

Restored to its 18th-century appearance and well maintained, the

Hancock-Clarke House is open to the public and serves as headquarters

of the society. Recently the society purchased the original site of the

house, where foundations are visible.

Bartlett House, New Hampshire  ∆

_Location: Rockingham County, on the west side of N.H. 111,

opposite the town hall, Kingston._

This is the only extant structure closely associated with Josiah

Bartlett. He built it in 1774, after fire consumed his earlier home on

the same site, and lived in it until his death in 1795.

[Illustration: Bartlett House.]

The rectangular frame residence is clapboarded and two stories in

height. Two interior chimneys pierce the gabled roof. Exterior louvered

shutters border the windows. Many of the house’s existing features

date from the second third of the 19th century, when it was remodeled

in the Greek Revival style. They include the giant corner pilasters;

cornices over the first-story windows; the center door with cornice,

sidelights, and pilasters; and the one-story porch across the south end

of the structure. Another addition, at the southwest corner, was the

two-story frame ell, which gave the building its present L-shape. This

ell contains a summer kitchen and workroom on the first floor and four

bedrooms on the second.

Center halls bisect the rooms on both stories of the main house

into pairs. The downstairs hall is divided into two sections, each

containing a stairway set against the north wall. To the south of

the hall on the first floor are the living room and the dining room,

originally the kitchen. These rooms are equipped with the original

chimneys and fireplaces. North of the hall is a parlor and behind it

a bedroom. Around 1860 the chimney for these rooms and the fireplace

in the parlor were rebuilt, and two closets that flanked the parlor

fireplace were converted into the existing arched alcoves. The second

floor contains four bedrooms, two on each side of the central hall. The

original wide floorboards are still in place throughout the residence.

The house, in excellent condition, is still in the possession of

Bartlett descendants and is not open to the public. It has never

been restored, but is furnished with some original Bartlett pieces,

including a medical table and instruments.

Moffatt-Ladd House, New Hampshire  ∆

_Location: Rockingham County, 154 Market Street, Portsmouth._

An outstanding example of a late Georgian mansion, this impressive

three-story structure was the longtime residence of William Whipple.

Ship carpenters constructed it in 1763 for John Moffatt, a sea captain

and wealthy merchant. He presented it the following year as a wedding

gift to his son, Samuel, a merchant-shipowner. In 1768, after the

latter had failed in business and fled to the West Indies to escape

creditors, Captain Moffatt reacquired it and lived in it for the rest

of his life. Whipple and his wife, Catherine, Moffatt’s daughter, moved

into the house the same year as the captain. Whipple resided there

until his death in 1785; his wife and apparently his father-in-law,

too, survived him.

[Illustration: Moffatt-Ladd House.]

The square, clapboarded building stands on a slight elevation

overlooking old Portsmouth Harbor. Noteworthy features of the elaborate

exterior include white corner quoins and richly pedimented first- and

second-floor windows. The third-story windows, smaller in size, abut

the distinctive cornice. Side windows, like those on the third-floor

front, lack pediments. Rear windows on the first two stories have flat

arches with lengthened keystones. The hip roof, flanked by three end

chimneys, is cut off to form a flat deck, or captain’s walk, which

is enclosed by an attractive balustrade with urn finials. A delicate

fence with large ornamental posts, also topped by urn finials, spans

the front of the house, which is approached by a flight of granite

steps that lead up to the portico-covered entranceway. Near the front

northeast comer of the residence is the countinghouse, or office

(1810), a small, square building with a hip roof.

The interior of the house is as highly embellished as the exterior. The

outstanding room on the first floor is the unusually spacious entrance

hall, one of the finest in New England. Its carved cornice is handsome,

and the walls are covered with rare imported French wallpaper of the

early 19th century. The beautiful and finely carved flight of stairs

is lighted by a roundheaded window in the side wall above the landing.

Except for the simple detail in the drawing room, that in other

first-floor rooms—dining room and pantry—is rich. Four bedrooms are

located on the second floor, and five additional chambers on the third.

Three of the second-floor bedrooms have richly carved overmantels.

The carefully restored house and grounds were owned by the Ladd family,

descendants of the Moffatts through marriage, until 1969. From 1913

until 1969, they leased the house to the Colonial Dames of America,

which maintained it for public display. In 1969 the Colonial Dames

acquired full title to the property. The first two floors of the house

are furnished in period pieces, and the third floor is not open.

Thornton House, New Hampshire  ∆

_Location: Rockingham County, 2 Thornton Street, Derry Village._

Matthew Thornton lived in this residence, which has since been

considerably altered, during his medical and most of his political

career. He probably acquired it in 1740, the year he moved from

Worcester, Mass., to present Derry Village (then a part of Londonderry)

to set up his medical practice. He resided in it until about 1780, when

he retired as a doctor and moved to a farm near Merrimack, N.H.

The gable roof of the two-story frame structure, of the saltbox type,

slopes steeply to the rear, or north, and forms a one-story lean-to.

Two interior chimneys sit behind the ridge of the roof. The exterior,

remodeled in the Greek Revival style probably in the mid-19th century,

features giant pilasters on the front corners and a one-story portico

over the center door. The clapboarding is a replacement of the

original. All windows, including those in the gable ends, have exterior

louvered shutters, and flat cornices surmount those on the first floor.

A one-story frame service ell, extending from the northwest corner and

giving the house its present L-shape, contains the modernized kitchen

and what were once workrooms for servants.

[Illustration: Thornton House.]

Inside the house, a center hall bisects the rooms into two pairs and is

divided into two sections, each with its own stairway on the east wall.

To the east of the hall are the living room and modern laundry room; to

the west, dining room and present family room. The two chimneys, built

between the pairs of rooms to provide four fireplaces, one for each

room, were rebuilt on a smaller scale in the early 19th century for use

with Franklin stoves. Thus none of the original fireplaces and mantels

exist any longer, but a 19th-century mantel remains in the dining room.

The opposite fireplace in the family room, however, is modern. Features

dating from the 18th century include the framing and wide floorboards,

visible in all rooms except the family room where they are covered. The

second floor contains three bedrooms.

The Thornton House, in fair condition, is used as a private residence

and is not open to the public. Its present owner hopes to restore it.

Hopkinson House, New Jersey  ∆

_Location: Burlington County, 101 Farnsworth Avenue, Bordentown._

Owned by the Hopkinson family for several generations, this house was

the residence of signer Francis Hopkinson from 1774 until his death in

1791. It was built in 1750 by merchant John Imlay (Emley), who used

part of it as a store. Sometime before 1768 Joseph Borden, a prominent

New Jersey citizen, acquired it. Hopkinson married his daughter at

Philadelphia in 1768, and, after a tour as customs collector at New

Castle, Del. (1772–74), moved to Bordentown and took up residence with

his father-in-law.

Upon Hopkinson’s death, his eldest son, Joseph (1770–1842), inherited

the house. He achieved fame as composer, lawyer, judge, and politician.

Among his distinguished guests were Irish poet Thomas Moore, Thomas

Paine, and Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother. The Hopkinson family

retained possession of the property until 1915; since then, it has been

owned by the Wells family.

The Hopkinson House is an L-shaped, brick and frame structure with a

gambrel, dormered roof. The main 2½-story section is constructed of

brick. The center door is topped by a rectangular transom, flanked by

sidelights, and sheltered by a segmental hood. A central hall, divided

into two sections by means of a wide folding door with an arched

fanlight above, bisects the first floor into two large rooms, living

room and library. Both of these are currently used by the Bordentown

Chamber of Commerce as an office and museum, open to the public. The

front portion of the central hall serves as an entrance hall; the rear

section, as the stair hall. A narrow hall extends from the stair hall

south across the rear of the main house. The second and third floors,

each containing four bedrooms, are used as apartments.

[Illustration: Hopkinson House.]

A two-story brick wing extends to the rear from the northeast corner

of the main section. Its first-floor dining room and the two bedrooms

comprising the second floor form an apartment unit. Attached to this

wing at the rear of the brick arm is a two-story frame wing that once

contained the kitchen and servant’s bedroom.

The exterior of the house, except for the metal roof, appears to

be little altered. Interior features are plastered walls, wide

floorboards, and 19th-century mantels. Much of the original woodwork

and trim has apparently been replaced, but the basic floor plan has not

been greatly changed. The residence is in good condition.

Maybury Hill, New Jersey  ∆

_Location: Mercer County, 346 Snowden Lane, Princeton._

Maybury Hill, built about 1725, was the birthplace and boyhood home

of North Carolina signer Joseph Hewes. His father leased it from 1730

until 1755.

The house provides a fine example of Georgian architecture. It was

originally a small, two-story stone structure with gable roof. A short

distance away, at the northeast corner, stood a detached kitchen

building. In 1735, following a fire, the main house was rebuilt. In

1753 a major addition was made on the north side connecting it with the

kitchen building. This resulted in an L-shaped, two-story structure

with gabled roof and three end chimneys. The only alteration of

consequence since that time occurred about 1900, when the fieldstone

exterior walls were covered with concrete.

Flat brick arches top the windows. Second-story windows have exterior

louvered shutters; those on the first, paneled shutters. Today the

house has a center hall floor plan. To the south of the hall is the

large parlor, which dates from 1725. To the north are the dining and

living rooms, added in 1753. Both of them have paneled walls, shell

cabinets, and exposed ceiling beams. The kitchen, dating from 1725,

is still in the northeast corner of the building. The dining room

fireplace is faced with tile. Four bedrooms occupy the upstairs. All

the floors are constructed of wide boards.

Little-altered Maybury Hill was renovated in 1920, and is still in

excellent condition. A private residence, it is not open to visitors.

[Illustration: Maybury Hill.]

Morven, New Jersey  ∆

_Location: Mercer County, 55 Stockton Street, Princeton._

Morven was the birthplace and lifelong home of Richard Stockton

(1730–81). In the summer of 1783 it was also the official residence

of his brother-in-law Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental

Congress, which was then meeting in Princeton. That same year, many

Revolutionary leaders gathered at the mansion to celebrate the signing

of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the War for Independence.

Between 1701 and 1709 Stockton’s grandfather, also named Richard,

built the earliest section of Morven. It grew in a series of stages

until about 1775, when its exterior appearance approximated that of

today. Because fires in 1776, set by the British during the War for

Independence, and 1821 necessitated extensive repairs, the interior

dates from the late 18th or early 19th century.

[Illustration: Morven.]

A large Georgian mansion of brick, Morven consists of three sections: a

main central, two-story section over a raised basement and two lower,

attached, two-story wings. The facade of the main section, although

basically early Georgian in style, was altered in the 19th century

by the addition of a wide, one-story, Greek Revival porch. A central

hall divides the section into a large dining room and the Gold Room.

Fireplace walls in these rooms are fully paneled. The central hall

intersects a stair hall, which runs across the rear of the main portion

of the house and connects with the two wings. On the first floor of

the east wing are two large family rooms, the Red Room and library.

This wing was partially burned by the British. The west service wing

includes the kitchen. The only recent change, in 1945–54, was the

addition of a solarium, or Green Room, at the rear of the main section;

a one-story porch was enclosed to form the new room.

Morven remained in possession of the Stockton family until 1945, when

Gov. and Mrs. Walter E. Edge acquired it. Nine years later, they

donated it to the State of New Jersey. Since that time, it has been the

official residence of the Governor. It is not accessible to the public.

President’s House, New Jersey  ∆

_Location: Mercer County, on Nassau Street just northwest of Nassau

Hall, on the Princeton University campus, Princeton._

From 1756 until 1879 this house was the official residence of the

president of the College of New Jersey (Princeton University after

1896). In 1768, when John Witherspoon emigrated from Scotland to

America to assume the presidency, he occupied it. While living there,

he represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress and signed the

Declaration. In 1779 he moved to his nearby farm, Tusculum. From then

until 1794 his son-in-law Samuel S. Smith, vice president of the

college, resided in the President’s House. From 1879 until 1968 it

was the home of the Dean of the Faculty and was known as the “Dean’s

House.” Since 1968, it has been called the Maclean House and has been

used by the Princeton Alumni Council.

[Illustration: President’s House.]

The Georgian building was designed and constructed in 1756 by Robert

Smith, a master carpenter of Philadelphia. Both on the exterior and

the interior, it has changed only slightly throughout the years. It

was originally a two-story brick structure, rectangular in shape, with

gable roof. A one-story polygonal bay extends westward from the rear

southwest comer. Near the same corner, a two-story service wing of

brick and stone runs southward. Above the windows of the main facade

are flat stone winged arches with keystones. Over the center door is a

fanlight surmounted by a triangular pediment. The exterior has retained

its original appearance and arrangement except that small double

dormers were later inserted in the center of the front and rear roofs

to create a third level. Additions in 1868 were a wide one-story frame

porch on the front of the residence and a one-story frame, polygonal

bay on the east side near the northeast front corner.

The center door opens into a central hall that extends through the

house to rear stairs, against the east wall. To the east of the hall

are a library and study. The fireplace wall in the library is fully

paneled. To the west of the hall are a parlor and dining room. The

second floor of the main house contains four bedrooms; the third floor,

three additional rooms. Two bedrooms are located on the second floor

of the service wing. In excellent condition, the house is open to the

public.

Tusculum, New Jersey  ‎⊗

_Location: Mercer County, 166 Cherry Hill Road, Princeton._

John Witherspoon made this his home from 1779 until his death in 1794.

In 1773, while serving as president of the College of New Jersey (later

Princeton University), he acquired some farmland near Princeton and

built Tusculum. For several years he leased out the house and farm, but

in 1779 he moved from the President’s House to Tusculum.

The two-story Georgian structure of fieldstone with gabled roof and

two pairs of end chimneys originally had only one extension, a lower,

two-story, stone and frame wing attached to the west end of the house

along its main axis. First-story windows of both sections have exterior

paneled shutters; second-story windows, louvered shutters. In later

years, two additional wings, both of frame and two stories in height,

were added to the east and west ends of the structure. Designed in the

same style as the rest of the house, they do not seriously alter the

original appearance of the front elevation.

[Illustration: Tusculum.]

The stairway is located in an ell at the rear portion of the center

hall along the east wall. To the east of the hall lie the living room

and study; to the west, a large dining room, which occupies the entire

west half of the main house. Four bedrooms are upstairs. The finish in

two of them date from about 1825. The original service wing, on the

west side, contains a kitchen on the first floor and two bedrooms on

the second.

Tusculum has never undergone any major alterations and it is in

excellent condition. In 1924 the present owner acquired it. Under

his supervision, a Philadelphia firm restored it to its 18th-century

appearance. The major changes were the removal of 19th-century porches

at the front, or south, and elimination of a partition wall in the

dining room. The structure continues to serve as a private residence

and is not shown to visitors.

Floyd Birthplace (Fire Island National Seashore), New York  ‎☑

_Location: Suffolk County, 20 Washington Avenue, Mastic, Long

Island; address: Fire Island National Seashore, P.O. Box 229,

Patchogue, N.Y. 11772._

This farmhouse, which stood on a large estate the Floyd family had

acquired in 1718, was the birthplace in 1734 of William Floyd and his

residence for the greater part of his life—though he and his family

were forced to abandon it in the period 1776–83 and flee to Middletown,

Conn. During that time, British troops and Loyalists considerably

damaged the estate. In 1803 Floyd presented the house to his son Nicoll

and moved to present Westernville, N.Y.

[Illustration: Floyd Birthplace.]

The earliest section of the large, frame Georgian building, which was

enlarged several times along its west side during the 18th century,

dates from about 1724. The structure now consists of a two-story main

section and three wings. The former, entered through a Dutch door,

is laid out in central hall fashion. To the west of the hall are a

parlor and back of that an office; to the east, a dining room, behind

which are a gunroom and pantry side by side. Interesting features on

the first floor are exposed ceiling beams and wide floorboards. Seven

bedrooms occupy the second floor.

Extending from the rear of the central hall is a two-story north

service wing, probably added about 1900. A 1½-story east service wing,

with a dormered, gable roof, dates from the 18th century. At the rear,

or to the north, of this wing, is a third service wing, 1½ stories

high. It contained the original kitchen and was once located at the

west end of the main house. Except for this relocation and the addition

of the north wing, the main house and east wing are basically unchanged

from their 18th-century appearance. The overall structure is in good

condition and is furnished with many original pieces belonging to the

Floyd family.

In 1965 Floyd descendants donated 613 acres of the estate to the U.S.

Government for inclusion in Fire Island National Seashore, but retained

use and occupational rights to 43 acres and the house for a period of

25 years. Thus the residence will not be open to the public until 1990.

General Floyd House, New York  ∆

_Location: Oneida County, on the west side of Main Street opposite

Gilford Hill Road, Westernville._

William Floyd lived in this home from 1803 until his death in 1821.

In 1784 he had begun purchasing frontier land near present Rome in

western New York, and 3 years later the State granted him 10,240 acres

in the same area. During the summers, he visited and developed his

tracts. In 1803, nearly 70 years of age, he deeded his residence at

present Mastic, on Long Island, N.Y., to his son Nicoll and moved the

rest of his family to present Westernville, where he constructed this

farmhouse. He spent the remainder of his life farming and improving his

wilderness lands.

[Illustration: General Floyd House.]

Constructed of frame, the Georgian-style residence consists of a large,

two-story main section with gable roof and a lower, two-story service

wing attached to the west end. A center door, flanked by a pair of

small windows, opens into a central hall that extends through the

house to another door on the north side. The stairs are set against

the west wall of the hall. To the east of the hall are two large

parlors containing cupboards and paneled fireplace walls. To the west

of the hall is a dining room and behind that a study. The rooms have

plastered walls and ceilings and wide floorboards. Four bedrooms occupy

the second floor, and the attic is unfinished. The service wing, which

includes the kitchen, is located to the west of the dining room.

The structure, unaltered except for metal roofs and modern plumbing,

is in excellent condition. It remained in the possession of Floyd

descendants until 1956. Still privately owned, it is not open to the

public.

Iredell House, North Carolina  ‎⊗

_Location: Chowan County, 107 East Church Street, Edenton._

Early in 1798, in a state of extreme mental anguish because of mounting

debts brought on by unwise speculation in lands, James Wilson, probably

while visiting North Carolina on Federal circuit court matters, took

refuge in this house. It was the home of his friend and fellow U.S.

Supreme Court Justice James Iredell. Within a few months, Wilson died

there.

[Illustration: Iredell House.]

The little-altered Iredell House is a large L-shaped structure. It is

constructed of frame and is two stories in height with gable roof.

Two-story verandas span the front, or south, and rear elevations of

the long arm of the ell. The building was erected in three stages. The

earliest, the present short, or east, arm of the ell, was built in 1759

by John Wilkins, with its narrow gable end fronting on the street. In

1776 Joseph Whedbee enlarged the structure by adding to its west side

the two easternmost bays of the present five-bay long arm. In 1810

Iredell’s widow extended the arm by three bays to its present size and

added the verandas.

The original section of the house contains a living room and one other

room on the first floor and two bedrooms on the second. The first floor

of the 1776 section consists of the dining room; the second floor, a

large bedroom. These two sections are furnished as a historic house

museum and are open to the public. The remaining section of the long

arm, dating from 1810, serves as the caretaker’s quarters. The State

owns and administers the residence.

Nash-Hooper House, North Carolina  ∆

_Location: Orange County, 118 West Tryon Street, Hillsborough._

The Nash-Hooper House is the only extant residence that can be

associated with William Hooper and is the only surviving home of a

signer in the State. It was built in 1772 by Francis Nash, who later

attained the rank of brigadier general in the Continental Army and

lost his life in the War for Independence. In 1782, after the British

had driven Hooper into hiding and destroyed his estate Finian near

Wilmington, he moved to Hillsborough, where his family had fled. He

purchased the Nash-Hooper House and resided in it until his death in

1790. Subsequently, from 1869 until 1875, it was the home of William A.

Graham, former Governor of North Carolina.

The original portion of the rectangular, two-story house was

constructed with a braced oak frame that was held together by pegs and

pins. It rests on shale foundations over an elevated basement, in which

are located two rooms and a center hall. The roof is gabled, with a

chimney at each end. A one-story, frame, “sitting room” (later dining

room) wing, added in 1819 on a log base, extends from the rear, or

north, of the house and creates its present L-shape. Weatherboarded

siding covers both sides of the wing and the front of the main section.

All the windows are flanked with exterior louvered shutters. The

one-story porch spanning the front of the house dates from the late

19th century. A detached kitchen, erected in 1819 just east of the

house adjacent to the storeroom and dining room in the north wing, was

demolished in 1908. Sometime during the period 1939–59, the dining room

in the north wing was converted into the present kitchen, and bathrooms

were installed in the residence.

[Illustration: Nash-Hooper House.]

The center hall of the main house is divided into two sections by means

of an arch near the rear. West of the hall are a large library and a

small study or bedroom; to the east, a large parlor and in the rear

corner a narrow, lateral stair hall, with the stairs set against the

north wall. Three bedrooms are located on the second floor, and the

attic is unfinished. Wide floorboards are exposed throughout most of

the main house. An original pine mantel remains in the dining room.

Although the little-altered Nash-Hooper House is structurally sound, it

has never been restored, and extensive painting and plastering will be

required to return it to good condition. It is privately owned and is

not open to the public.

Hooper was buried to the east of his home in the garden. That part

of the garden was later absorbed by the town cemetery, behind the

Presbyterian Church. In 1894 Hooper’s remains were reinterred at

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, N.C., though his original

gravestone remains in the Hillsborough cemetery.

Independence National Historical Park, Pennsylvania  ‎☑

_Location: Philadelphia County, in downtown Philadelphia; address:

313 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106._

This park in the old part of Philadelphia is not only preeminent

among the sites associated with the signers of the Declaration of

Independence, but also notably commemorates other major aspects of

the Nation’s founding and initial growth and many momentous national

events. These include meetings of the First and Second Continental

Congresses; adoption and signing of the Declaration, which marked the

creation of the United States; and the labors of the Constitutional

Convention of 1787, which perpetuated it. As historian Carl Van Doren

has said: “On account of the Declaration of Independence, [Independence

Hall] is a shrine honored wherever the rights of man are honored. On

account of the Constitution, it is a shrine cherished wherever the

principles of self-government on a federal scale are cherished.”

[Illustration: Independence Hall.]

Independence Hall was originally the State House for the Province of

Pennsylvania. In 1729 the provincial assembly set aside funds for

the building, designed by lawyer Andrew Hamilton. Three years later,

construction began under the supervision of master carpenter Edmund

Wooley. In 1736 the assembly moved into the statehouse, which was not

fully completed until 1756.

As American opposition to British colonial policies mounted,

Philadelphia became a center of organized protest. To decide on a

unified course of action, in 1774 the First Continental Congress met

in newly finished Carpenters’ Hall, whose erection the Carpenters’

Company of Philadelphia had begun 4 years earlier. In 1775 the Second

Continental Congress, taking over the east room of the ground floor

of the statehouse from the Pennsylvania assembly, moved from protest

to resistance. Warfare had already begun in Massachusetts. Congress

created an Army and appointed George Washington as commander in chief.

Yet the final break with the Crown had not come; not until a year later

would independence be declared.

On July 2, 1776, Congress passed Richard Henry Lee’s resolution of

June 7 recommending independence. The Delegates then turned their

attention to Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration, which had

been submitted on June 28. After modification, it was adopted on July

4. Four days later, in Independence Square, the document was first read

publicly, to the citizens of Philadelphia. In a formal ceremony on

August 2, about 50 of the 56 signers affixed their signatures to the

Declaration; the others apparently did so later.

Long, hard years of war ensued. In the late autumn and winter of

1776–77, the British threatened Philadelphia and Congress moved to

Baltimore. Again in the fall of 1777 it departed, this time for York,

Pa. During the British occupation of Philadelphia that winter and the

next spring, the redcoats used Independence Hall as a barracks and as a

hospital for American prisoners. In the summer of 1778, the Government

returned. On November 3, 1781, Congress officially received news of

Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown. Independence practically had been

won.

Earlier that same year, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual

Union had gone into effect. Under the Confederation, Congress stayed

in Philadelphia until 1783, and later met in other cities. In 1787

the Constitutional Convention also held its highly secret sessions in

Independence Hall, in the same chamber in which the Declaration had

been adopted.

About the same time that Philadelphia became the second Capital

(1790–1800) under the Constitution, after the Government had moved

from New York City, Independence Hall acquired three new neighbors

in Independence Square: City Hall (1791), on the east; County Court

House (1789), on the west; and American Philosophical Society Hall,

on the southeast. Beginning in 1790, Congress met in the County Court

House (subsequently known as Congress Hall). The following year, after

sitting for a few days in Independence Hall, the U.S. Supreme Court

moved to City Hall. In 1793 George Washington was inaugurated for his

second term as President in Congress Hall, and 4 years later President

Adams also took his oath of office there.

In 1799 the State government vacated Independence Hall and moved

to Lancaster. The next year, the Federal Government relocated to

Washington, D.C. The city of Philadelphia then used City Hall and

Congress Hall, and various tenants occupied Independence Hall until the

city acquired it in 1818. For example, during the period 1802–27 artist

Charles Willson Peale operated a museum there. He and his son painted

many of the signers and heroes of the War for Independence. These

portraits form the nucleus of the park’s present collection, which is

exhibited in the Second Bank of the United States Building; a special

room is devoted to the signers.

Stately and symmetrical Independence Hall, a 2½-story red brick

structure that has been carefully restored, is the most beautiful

18th-century public building of Georgian style in the United States.

The tall belltower, reconstructed along the original lines in 1828 by

architect William Strickland, dominates the south facade. Smaller

two-story, hip-roofed, brick wings, erected in 1736 and 1739 and

restored in 1897–98, one of which serves as a park information center,

are connected to the main building by arcades.

[Illustration: Independence Hall in 1778.]

The interior focus of interest in Independence Hall is the Assembly

Room, the eastern one on the first floor. Probably no other room in

the United States has been the scene of such political courage and

wisdom. In this chamber, members of the Continental Congress and the

Constitutional Convention formulated and signed the Declaration of

Independence and Constitution. The room is about 40 feet square and

20 feet high. Twin segmental-arched fireplaces along the east wall

flank the speaker’s dais. Massive fluted pilasters raised on pedestals

adorn the paneled east wall. The other three walls are plastered.

A heavy Roman Doric entablature borders the plaster ceiling. The

furniture arrangement at the time of the Continental Congress has been

duplicated. The only original furnishings are the “Rising Sun” chair

and the silver inkstand with quill box and shaker used by the signers

of the Declaration and the Constitution.

[Illustration: Restored Assembly Room, Independence Hall, where Members

of the Continental Congress adopted and signed the Declaration of

Independence.]

The other large room on the ground floor, where the U.S. Supreme Court

held sessions for a few days in 1791 and again in August 1796, housed

the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and later other State and local

courts. The paneled walls are decorated with massive fluted pilasters

of the Roman Doric order. The central hall between this room and the

Assembly Room is richly adorned with a Roman Doric order of columns and

entablature, fully membered. On the second floor are the Long Room,

Governor’s Council Chamber, and Committee Room. These are furnished to

represent the activities of the Pennsylvania legislature and government

prior to 1775.

The Liberty Bell, a worldwide emblem of freedom, is displayed in the

tower stair hall on the south end of the first floor. [When this

volume went to press, the bell was scheduled to be moved in the near

future to a newly constructed belltower, part of the park visitor

center, located 2 blocks from Independence Hall.] The source of the

2,080-pound bell’s name is the “Proclaim Liberty” inscription, engraved

on it to commemorate the 50th anniversary of William Penn’s Charter

of Privileges (1701). In 1750 the Pennsylvania assembly authorized

erection of the Independence Hall belltower, and the next year

ordered a bell from England. After it arrived in 1752, it was cracked

during testing and was twice recast by local workmen. As the official

statehouse bell, it was rung on public occasions. In 1777, before the

British occupied Philadelphia, the Government moved it temporarily to

Allentown, Pa. Traditionally the bell cracked once again, in 1835,

while tolling the death of Chief Justice John Marshall. The exterior

appearances of City Hall and Congress Hall have changed little since

the 1790’s, when many of the signers served in the Government. The

interior of Congress Hall has been restored and refurnished as the

meetingplace of Congress in the 1790’s. Exhibits in City Hall describe

the activities of the U.S. Supreme Court during the same period of

time, and portray Philadelphia life during the late 18th century.

Carpenters’ Hall, a block east of Independence Square, is still owned

and operated by the Carpenters’ Company of Philadelphia. The hall

memorializes the First Continental Congress and possesses architectural

significance.

The American Philosophical Society, founded in 1743 by Benjamin

Franklin and the oldest learned society in the United States, still

maintains its headquarters in Philosophical Hall. Its distinguished

membership once included 15 of the signers. The society’s collections

also contain furniture and documents associated with them.

In the years 1789–91, the Library Company of Philadelphia (organized

in 1731), one of the first public libraries in the United States,

erected Library Hall, across from Independence Square on the corner of

Library and Fifth Streets. Numbering among the members were 11 signers,

including company founder Franklin. Library Hall, reconstructed by the

American Philosophical Society, now serves as its library. The Library

Company is quartered elsewhere in the city.

In addition to the preceding buildings, numerous sites associated

with the signers have also been identified within the park. Many of

them have been marked. On some, later buildings now stand. In a few

instances, the National Park Service has excavated and stabilized

foundations. Outstanding among the sites is that of the Jacob Graff,

Jr., House, two blocks from Independence Hall on the southwest corner

of Seventh and Market Streets. Jefferson was occupying the second floor

of the 3½-story brick house when he wrote the Declaration in June 1776.

His rented quarters consisted of a bedroom and parlor. He likely did

much of his writing on a portable writing desk of his own design. In

1791 the Graff House was also the residence of signer James Wilson. It

was demolished in 1883.

Other sites include those of the home (1766–90) and other structures

associated with Franklin, on Franklin Court in the block south of

Market Street between Third and Fourth Streets; two adjoining homes

(1785–90 and 1790–95) of Robert Morris, on the southeast corner of

Market and Sixth Streets, one of which was the unofficial Presidential

Mansion (1790–1800), where John Adams resided (1797–1800) while

President; Clarke Hall, on the southwest corner of Chestnut and Third

Streets, the residence of Samuel Huntington (1779–81) and Thomas

McKean (1781); Benjamin Rush’s home (1791–93), on the northwest corner

of Walnut and Third Streets; the James Wilson home (“Fort Wilson”)

(1778–90), on the southwest corner of the same intersection; and City

Tavern, near Walnut and Second Streets, a gathering place for members

of the Continental Congress and Constitutional Convention, as well as

other Government officials.

In connection with the U.S. Bicentennial commemoration, the National

Park Service plans to reconstruct the Graff House and the City Tavern.

[Illustration: Congress Hall, seat of the U.S. Congress from 1790 until

1800.]

The graves and tombs of seven signers are also located in the park.

Five (Franklin, Hewes, Hopkinson, Ross, and Rush) are in Christ Church

Burial Ground, at the southeast corner of Fifth and Arch Streets; and

two (Wilson and Robert Morris) in the yard of Christ Church, on Second

Street between Church and Filbert Streets. The graves of Hewes and Ross

are unmarked. A rose garden, dedicated in January 1971 to the memory

of the signers of the Declaration by the Daughters of the American

Revolution, is situated in a plot in the area between Walnut and Locust

and Fourth and Fifth Streets.

[Illustration: Carpenters’ Hall, meetingplace in 1774–75 of the First

Continental Congress.]

Buildings and sites in the park that are mainly of interest in other

themes of history than that treated in this volume include: the First

Bank of the United States; the Second Bank of the United States (Old

Custom House); New Hall (Marine Corps Museum); the Pemberton House

(Army-Navy Museum); the Philadelphia (Merchants’) Exchange; the Bishop

White House; the Deshler-Morris House, in Germantown; the Todd House;

St. George’s Church; St. Joseph’s Church; St. Mary’s Church; Mikveh

Israel Cemetery; and Gloria Dei (Old Swede’s) Church National Historic

Site.

[Illustration: The Graff House about 1855. By this time, alterations

had rendered it almost completely unrecognizable from its original

appearance. Among other changes, it had been joined to an adjacent

building and raised a story higher, more than doubling its size.]

The structures and properties in 22-acre Independence National

Historical Park, most of which are open to the public, include those

owned by the city of Philadelphia, but administered by the National

Park Service. These consist of Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City

Hall, and Independence Square. In recent years, to enhance the setting

of the area, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has created Independence

Mall in the three blocks directly north of Independence Hall. Federally

owned buildings include the First and Second Banks of the United

States; the Deshler-Morris House, administered by the Germantown

Historical Society; Todd House; Bishop White House; New Hall; Pemberton

House; and the Philadelphia Exchange.

Among those privately owned buildings whose owners have cooperative

agreements with the National Park Service are Carpenters’ Hall

and Christ Church, both National Historic Landmarks. The American

Philosophical Society owns Philosophical Hall, another Landmark and the

only privately owned building on the square, but also operates Library

Hall, on federally owned land.

In 1948, upon recommendation of the Philadelphia National Shrines Park

Commission, Congress created Independence National Historical Park.

This act specified the Federal Government’s role in the commemoration

of existing historic sites and buildings and the acquisition and

management of others. The entire undertaking is guided by an advisory

commission of distinguished citizens. Many individuals and private

and civic organizations have contributed to the preservation and

beautification of the park.

Parsons-Taylor House, Pennsylvania  ‎⊗

_Location: Northampton County, northeast corner of Fourth and Ferry

Streets, Easton._

This house, built by William Parsons in 1757, was leased by George

Taylor during the last year of his life and was the site of his death

in February 1781. His health failing and his iron business declining,

he had moved there the previous April from Greenwich Township, N.J.

[Illustration: Parsons-Taylor House.]

The residence, a small, two-story Georgian structure constructed of

fieldstone, has a steep gable roof and a pent roof extending along the

front at the second-floor level. A single chimney is located in the

north sidewall. The front door is surmounted by a rectangular transom;

the center door, in the south side, is sheltered by a hood. A frame

attachment to the house, probably existing in 1780, no longer stands.

A single large room containing stairs and a fireplace on the north wall

make up the first floor. The walls are plastered, and the joists are

supported by heavy, exposed beams. Bedrooms occupy the second floor

and attic. Restored about 1906, the structure is in fine condition

and is owned by the George Taylor Chapter, Daughters of the American

Revolution, which uses it as a meetingplace. It is not usually open to

visitors.

Shippen-Wistar House, Pennsylvania  ‎⊗

_Location: Philadelphia County, southwest corner of Fourth and

Locust Streets, Philadelphia._

Meetingplace of medical and political dignitaries, this townhouse was

the residence of three eminent doctors and was visited by some of the

signers and other key governmental officials. It was erected about

1750 by Dr. William Shippen, Sr. (1712–1802). A prominent medical man

of his day, he also served in the Continental Congress and contributed

to Philadelphia’s cultural life. His son, Dr. William Shippen, Jr.

(1736–1808), won distinction as a teacher as well as a practitioner,

helped found the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, and in

the period 1777–81 directed medical services in the Continental Army.

He and his father apparently shared the residence part of the time

during their careers. Like the Shippens, Dr. Caspar Wistar (1761–1818),

who acquired the house in 1798, was distinguished in medical and

intellectual circles.

Various signers and other Delegates to the Continental Congress paid

visits to the home. Richard Henry Lee, brother-in-law of young Shippen,

stayed there. Francis Lightfoot and Arthur Lee likely often made calls.

On occasion John Adams and John Witherspoon stopped by. Other notables

who did so later were George Washington, while presiding over the

Constitutional Convention (1787); Benjamin Rush, before his clash with

Shippen, Jr., over medical conditions in the Continental Army; Robert

R. Livingston, who had served on the Declaration drafting committee,

in the 1780’s; John Adams, while Vice President; and Jefferson, as

Secretary of State.

The exterior of the house is in good condition, but the interior

has been extensively altered. A 3½-story building in the colonial

Philadelphia architectural style, it is constructed in Flemish bond

with red bricks and black headers. The windows are shuttered. Notable

are a high gable on the Fourth Street side and brick parapet walls on

the roof joining the two end chimneys, one on each side of the roof

near the peak of the ridge. A garden extends along the Locust Street

side at the original rear of the house, which is now entered from

that side rather than from Fourth Street. The building is owned and

occupied by an insurance company, which has built a passageway between

it and the adjacent Cadwalader House on the south. Access to the two

structures is limited to the company’s customers.

Summerseat, Pennsylvania  ∆

_Location: Bucks County, on Clymer Street in the block bounded by

Morris and Hillcrest Avenues, Morrisville._

Summerseat was erected in the 1770’s by Thomas Barclay, a Philadelphia

merchant. In 1806 George Clymer acquired it and resided in it until his

death in 1813. It is a two-story, brick and stone Georgian structure

over an elevated basement. The roof is gabled and slate-covered. The

wall of the front, or east, facade is brick; the end walls, probably

also of brick, are covered with cement; the rear wall is of fieldstone.

Front first- and second-story windows are topped by flat arches of

gauged brick; rear windows on both levels and all the basement windows,

by segmental arches, also of gauged brick. Exterior solid shutters

flank the first- and second-story windows.

A rectangular transom and triangular pediment surmount the front center

door. Central halls divide the four rooms on each floor into pairs.

Each of the rooms is equipped with a fireplace. The stairs, located

at the rear of the hall along the south wall, are lighted by a large

window over the landing. The walls, floors, and some of the woodwork

appear to be original. Restored in 1931 and renovated 4 years later,

the house is owned by the Morrisville School District and is used for

educational purposes. It is open to the public only on a restricted

basis.

[Illustration: Summerseat.]

Taylor House, Pennsylvania  ∆

_Location: Lehigh County, on Front Street, Catasauqua._

In 1768 George Taylor employed Philadelphia carpenters to build this

stone residence on the east bank of the Lehigh River, about 15 miles

west of Easton at the site of present Catasauqua. The structure was

located on a 331-acre tract of land, known as the “Manor of Chawton,”

which he had acquired the previous year. In 1771 he leased out most

of the manor as a farm, and 5 years later sold the house and land to

Philadelphia merchant John Benezet.

The rectangular residence is Georgian in style and consists of two

stories over an elevated basement. The thick walls are built of stone

masonry rubble faced with a whitish, slaked-lime stucco. Over the

windows are flat arches of gauged brick. First-floor windows have

exterior solid-panel shutters; those on the second floor, louvered. A

heavy, overhanging cornice surrounds the truncated hip roof. The brick

chimneys at both ends are symmetrically paired. A two-story stone

kitchen wing, dating from about 1800, adjoins the house at the south

end.

[Illustration: Taylor House.]

At the center of the front, or west, facade, a flight of marble

pyramidal steps lead up to a double door, over which are a rectangular

transom and triangular pediment. The central hall, which extends to the

rear of the house toward the stairway, is divided by an archway, with

fluted pilasters. Situated to the north of the hall are living room and

parlor; to the south, dining room and reception, or service, room. Of

special interest in the dining room, parlor, and living room are the

finely executed door pediments and fully paneled fireplace walls. Other

walls in these rooms have paneled wainscots and finely detailed chair

rails. The fireplace paneling and mantel in the dining room date from

the 19th century and represent the Greek Revival style, but the rest of

the first-floor paneling and mantels are original, as are also the wide

pine floorboards and iron hardware.

The second floor consists of four bedrooms and two small dressing

rooms. The fireplace paneling in the two bedrooms on the front side of

the house is almost as elaborate as that downstairs. A 1½-story, brick

summer kitchen, near the rear of the house, dates from about 1850.

The slightly altered Taylor House, acquired in 1945 by the Lehigh

County Historical Society and restored in 1966–68, is in excellent

condition and is open to the public.

Governor Hopkins House, Rhode Island  ∆

_Location: Providence County, 15 Hopkins Street, Providence._

Stephen Hopkins bought this framehouse in 1742 and resided in it until

his death in 1785. It is the only extant structure closely associated

with him. The oldest section, the lower level of the present southwest

rear ell, dates from about 1707, when the small dwelling comprised two

first-floor rooms and an attic. As soon as he acquired the building,

Hopkins enlarged and remodeled it into its present L-shaped, two-story

form.

The Georgian building, which has a gabled roof and two chimneys, is

clapboarded. Cornices decorate the first-story windows. In 1928, during

a major restoration, a reconstructed door, with triangular pediment and

pilasters typical of the 18th century, was inserted in place of one of

the four windows along the present front elevation. This door, the only

major alteration in the house, became the main entrance. It replaced

a door on the west side, which opens into the original kitchen and is

still extant.

The central hall, along the east wall of which is the main stairway,

divides the front of the residence into two rooms, study and parlor.

The recessed parlor bookshelves, set in paneling above the hearth,

are distinctive. The paneling of the two fireplaces in the study and

ell is simpler. A passageway leads from the parlor to the southwest

ell, which consists of the original kitchen and in the southeast

corner a small bedroom. Five bedrooms, two of which are equipped with

fireplaces, are located upstairs. The interior of the house, including

stairs, woodwork, floors, and fireplaces, is largely original. The fine

garden was designed by a descendant of Stephen Hopkins, the late Alden

Hopkins, prominent landscape architect.

[Illustration: Governor Hopkins House.]

The Governor Hopkins House, first located on the northeast corner of

Hopkins and South Main Streets, was moved eastward in 1804 along the

north side of and about halfway up Hopkins Street. In 1927, to make

way for the construction of a new courthouse, the building was again

relocated eastward along the same street, to its present site, and the

next year was restored. Since that time, the State of Rhode Island has

owned the house and maintained the exterior and grounds. The Society of

Colonial Dames in the State of Rhode Island maintains and administers

the interior as a historic house museum.

Heyward-Washington House, South Carolina  ∆

_Location: Charleston County, 87 Church Street, Charleston._

From 1778 until 1794 this townhouse was the principal residence

of Thomas Heyward, Jr. During this period, however, he also spent

considerable time at White Hall, his country estate near that of

his father about 25 miles northeast of Savannah, and in 1780–81 was

imprisoned by the British at St. Augustine. In 1770 his father, Daniel,

a rice planter, had purchased the lot and a two-story house standing on

it. Within 2 years, he probably demolished it and erected the present

one. Thomas inherited it in 1777, and moved in the following year,

upon completion of his tour in the Continental Congress. In 1780, when

the British took Charleston, they captured him and forced his family

to flee from the townhouse. For a week in 1791 the city rented it for

use of President Washington, who was visiting Charleston while touring

the Southern States. Three years later, Heyward sold the property and

retired to White Hall.

[Illustration: Heyward-Washington House.]

A slightly altered Georgian structure, the residence is a superb

example of a Charleston “double house.” The floor plan is the typical

Georgian center hall type, with four rooms on each floor. Two

interior chimneys allow for two fireplaces in pairs set back to back

on all floors. The first-floor rooms are simple; those on the second,

elaborate, for entertaining. The downstairs hall, divided by an arch

at midpoint, extends to a rear door. A Palladian window lights the

stairway, located at the rear of the hall against the north wall.

The large second-floor drawing room, the most elaborate room in the

house, features paneled walls, pedimented doors, interior paneled

shutters, an elaborate ceiling cornice, and a fireplace with a

magnificent carved mantel. In addition to the drawing room, the second

floor contains a smaller parlor and two bedrooms, each of which has a

paneled fireplace wall. Four more rooms are located on both the first

and third floors. Except for reconstruction in 1929 of one front room

and the front of the hall on the first floor, the structure is largely

original.

The brick house is square and rises three stories. The hipped roof

is pierced by a single front dormer and ornamented by a narrow,

denticulated cornice. Brick flat arches head the windows. The upper

windows have louvered shutters; those on the first floor, paneled

shutters. The center entrance, a reconstruction, consists of a

fan-lighted door surmounted by a pediment and flanked by Roman Doric

columns. A rear courtyard contains a brick kitchen-laundry with slave

quarters above, a carriage house, wood and tool sheds, a necessary, and

garden.

Subsequent to Heyward’s ownership, the house passed through several

hands until rescued from the threat of demolition in 1929 by the

Charleston Museum. After restoration and furnishing with period pieces,

it was opened to the public. A collection of china once owned by

Heyward is on display, as well as portraits of the Heyward family.

Hopsewee-on-the-Santee, South Carolina  ∆

_Location: Georgetown County, on an unimproved road just west of

U.S. 17, about 13 miles southwest of Georgetown._

Erected by his father during the 1740’s, this house on the north bank

of the North Santee River was the birthplace in 1749 and the boyhood

home of Thomas Lynch, Jr. He lived in it until his father sold it in

1763, the year before young Lynch sailed to Europe to continue his

education. It is the only surviving residence closely associated with

him.

[Illustration: Hopsewee-on-the-Santee.]

The 2½-story framehouse rests on a brick foundation, which is covered

with scored tabby. Two front dormers and two interior chimneys

protrude from the hip roof. A broad, two-story porch, or piazza, with

square columns extends across the front of the building. The frame,

comprised of black cypress, is of mortise-and-tenon construction, and

the walls are clapboarded. Exterior paneled shutters flank the first-

and second-story windows. Except for the present metal roof and the

screening of the front porch, the outside of the structure has not been

appreciably altered.

The central hall arrangement divides four rooms into pairs on the first

two floors. All the rooms are equipped with fireplaces. Throughout, the

mantels, wainscoting, cornice mold, and heart pine floors are original

and excellently crafted. The full cellar is constructed of brick and

divided into rooms. Two one-story, cypress, shingled outbuildings,

located to the northeast and northwest of the main house, probably once

served as kitchens. About 1948, by which time the house had fallen into

decay and the grounds were overgrown, the present owner acquired the

property, restored the garden, and repaired the residence. In fine

condition, it is privately occupied, but is shown to the public part of

the week.

Middleton Place, South Carolina  ∆

_Location: Dorchester County, on an unimproved road just east of

S.C. 61, about 13 miles northwest of Charleston._

This mansion, of which only the south wing stands today, was the

birthplace and lifelong home of Arthur Middleton (1742–87). About 1738

his grandfather had built a 3½-story brick house at the site. Some 3

years later, Arthur’s father began laying out the surrounding gardens

that have since won international fame as Middleton Place Gardens. More

than 100 slaves labored for a decade to complete the 45-acre gardens

and 16-acre lawn. In 1755 the mansion was enlarged by the addition

of two two-story brick flankers, or detached wings, on the north and

south sides of the original structure, for use respectively as a

library-conservatory and guest quarters.

During the War for Independence, British troops pillaged the residence

and despoiled the plantation. In 1865, as Union soldiers approached

during the Civil War, the slaves set the mansion to the torch, which

left only the walls standing. In 1868 William Middleton erected a

roof over the south wing, the least damaged section of the three, and

reoccupied it. In 1886 an earthquake felled the ruined walls of the

north wing and central section.

[Illustration: The south wing (1755) of Middleton Place, the only

18th-century section of the mansion that has survived.]

In the 1930’s the two-story, brick south wing was renovated and

enlarged. The major additions, both two-story brick and executed in an

18th-century manner, were a service wing along the main axis of the

wing at the south end; and, on the west side, a right-angled entrance

wing, containing a vestibule and stairway, and constructed with a

stepped and curvilinear gable roof to match those on the ends of the

original south wing. A third addition in the 1930’s was a one-story

brick porch on the east, or river, elevation. All the brickwork is

Flemish bond, the shutters are paneled, and a louvered circular window

decorates the gable end of the new entrance wing. The interior chimneys

are three in number. A parlor, dining room, and living room are located

on the first floor of the original south wing and three bedrooms on the

second. The interior finish dates from the mid-19th century, but many

of the furnishings are original 18th-century Middleton pieces.

To the east and north of the present house and ruins of the central

block and north wing are the famous gardens, which have been enlarged

and perfected over the years. They extend from the Ashley River and

the paired butterfly lakes at their foot west toward the residence and

beyond in sweeping terraces. To the northwest of the house, in another

18th-century formal garden, is the family graveyard, containing the

mausoleum of Arthur Middleton.

The estate comprises 7,000 acres and is still owned by Middleton

descendants. They occupy the south wing, which is not open to the

public, unlike the gardens. According to present plans, about 110

acres, embracing the gardens, burial plot, plantation house, and

reconstructed outbuildings, will be donated to a nonprofit organization

that will preserve them and keep them open to the public.

Rutledge House, South Carolina  ∆

_Location: Charleston County, 117 Broad Street, Charleston._

The residence of Edward Rutledge during his later years, this building

is the only existing one that can be identified with him. Unfortunately

the construction date and the exact years of his residence cannot be

determined, though he was definitely the occupant in 1787.

The large, rectilinear, clapboarded, frame structure is two stories

high over a basement. The roof is hipped. A bilevel porch, supported

by columns, extends across the west side and around the south, or

rear, side of the house. A central modillioned pediment with circular

window fronts the main roof and is “supported” by consoles. Exterior

louvered shutters flank the corniced windows. The center doorway, once

crowned by a cornice, now has a triangular pediment. A small, two-story

clapboard wing, added to the front of the east end along the main

axis in the late 19th century, is the only definite major exterior

alteration. Behind it, runs a two-story porch.

[Illustration: Rutledge House.]

A center hall extends about halfway through the house. On one side are

two rooms with fireplaces; on the other, a front stair hall containing

a curved stairway. Behind this is a large room, accessible only from

the entrance hall. The kitchen, possibly another later addition, is

located in a wing that projects from the rear of the house at the

southeast corner. The interior woodwork appears to date from the

1880’s, and partition walls now subdivide the large original rooms into

smaller ones.

The Rutledge House, known in modern times as the Carter-May House, is

now a Roman Catholic home for elderly women. Portions of the first

floor may be visited upon request. A large garden is located at the

rear of the building.

Berkeley, Virginia  ∆

_Location: Charles City County, on the south side of Va. 5, about 8

miles west of Charles City._

In historical interest this fine mansion has few rivals among the James

River plantations. It was the birthplace and lifelong home of Benjamin

Harrison V (1726–91), signer of the Declaration and three-term Governor

of Virginia, as well as the birthplace and boyhood residence of his

son, William Henry (1773–1841), ninth President of the United States

and grandfather of Benjamin (1833–1901), the 23rd President. William

Henry probably wrote his 1841 inaugural address at Berkeley in the room

in which he had been born.

[Illustration: Berkeley.]

Benjamin Harrison IV, the signer’s father, built the structure in 1726.

In 1781 British troops under Benedict Arnold plundered the plantation,

but did not seriously harm the mansion. In the 1790’s one of the

Harrisons, probably Benjamin VI, made some architectural alterations

and redecorated the interior in the Adam style. By the time of the

Civil War, the plantation was known as Harrison’s Landing. In 1862 it

served as a supply base and camp for the Union Army of the Potomac

following its retreat from the Battle of Malvern Hill, Va., which ended

the Peninsular Campaign. Gen. George B. McClellan utilized the mansion

as his headquarters. While quartered nearby, Gen. Daniel Butterfield

composed the famous bugle call “Taps.”

The early Georgian mansion has been altered somewhat over the years,

but retains much of the original structure and character. It is 2½

stories high and has a dormered, gable roof with two tall interior

ridge chimneys, and distinctive pedimented gable ends, including

modillioned cornice. The brick walls are laid in Flemish bond. Gauged

brick is employed in the flat window arches, the belt course, and

door pediments. The broad-piered central doors on the north and south

elevations, with pediments in gauged brick, are reconstructions. Two

detached, two-story, brick dependencies, set slightly south of the

house on the river side, were built in the 1840’s to replace similar

structures that had been erected sometime before 1800.

The center hall plan has been slightly modified. The hall bisects

the four rooms on the first floor into pairs. A small stairs in the

northwest corner was probably inserted about 1800. Most of the interior

finish clearly reflects the Adam alterations of the 1790’s.

By 1915 the mansion was in poor condition. Subsequent owners have

reconstructed and restored it to its 18th-century appearance. This

included removal of a 19th-century porch on all four sides, replacement

of the window sash and exterior door framings, and reconstruction of

the center stairs. The upper floors are used as a private residence,

but the basement and first floor may be visited. The unmarked grave of

signer Benjamin Harrison is located in the family cemetery, a quarter

of a mile southeast of the plantation house.

Elsing Green, Virginia  ∆

_Location: King William County, on a private road about 1 mile

southwest of Va. 632, some 10 miles southwest of King William Court

House._

In 1758, while Carter Braxton was visiting in England, his brother

George probably built for him this impressive plantation home on a high

bluff overlooking the Pamunkey River. Upon his return in 1760, Carter

took up residence in it and lived there until 1767. He then moved to a

new residence, Chericoke, a few miles to the northwest.

[Illustration: Elsing Green.]

The exterior is original, but about 1800 a fire destroyed the

interior. The present 18th-century style woodwork is a 20th-century

reconstruction. The Georgian structure of brick, laid in Flemish bond,

is U-shaped. Two wings project to the north, or rear, of the central

section. The large building is two stories in height and has a hip roof

and four tall chimneys. Side doors are centered in each wing, and there

are also central doors in the front and rear facades of the main house.

The door on the front, or river, facade, with gauged brick triangular

pediment, is a reconstruction.

The flat window arches are constructed of splayed brick. The

second-floor level is marked by a strong course of gauged brick,

unmolded and four courses high. Two old, detached, brick dependencies,

1½ stories high, flank the mansion. The eastern one may date from 1719;

the western contains a restored kitchen. A reconstructed smokehouse and

dairy rest on their original, symmetrically located, foundations.

An off-center hall extends northward halfway through the main arm

of the U from the south, or front, entrance and intersects with an

east-west lateral hall running the length of the main mansion. The

ends of this long cross hall each contain a stairway set against the

south wall. The southeast comer of the residence is occupied by a large

parlor; the southwest corner, by a smaller living room; and each of the

north wings, by a single large room. Four bedrooms are upstairs, which

has the same general plan as the ground floor.

The carefully restored house and well maintained estate, which now

includes about 3,000 acres, are in excellent condition but are

privately occupied and not open to visitors.

Menokin, Virginia  ∆

_Location: Richmond County, on an unimproved road about 1 mile west

of County Route 690, some 4 miles northwest of Warsaw._

Menokin, completed in 1769 by Col. John Tayloe of nearby Mount Airy as

a wedding gift for his daughter and her husband, Francis Lightfoot Lee,

was the home where they spent most of their lives and the one Lee loved

best. He died there in 1797.

This late Georgian house, similar in many respects to Mount Airy though

much smaller, was likely constructed by the same architect-builder,

probably John Ariss. The exterior possesses the qualities of a large

mansion, though the actual dimensions are rather modest.

[Illustration: Ruins of Menokin.]

The residence, constructed of local brown sandstone, is two stories

high with hip-on-hip roof and two large interior chimneys. Its exterior

walls are covered with plaster. The stone trim—quoins, belt courses,

and window and door trim—is elaborate. Two stone belt courses, one at

the second-floor line and the other at the sill level of the upper

windows, divide the main, or north, facade horizontally. The upper

course is eliminated on the other three facades. No longer standing are

two two-story, gable-roofed, detached, symmetrical service buildings,

a kitchen to the east and office to the west, which once stood in

the forecourt at right angles to the main house. They undoubtedly

heightened the impression of the mansion’s large size.

A center hall extends halfway through the first floor, which contains

dining room, living room, kitchen, and bedroom. Four bedrooms, divided

into pairs by a central hall, are located on the second floor.

Unoccupied for many years, Menokin is in ruinous condition. The roof

and walls on the southeast side have collapsed. The yard and grounds,

part of a 590-acre farm, are overgrown with vegetation and small trees.

The owner has removed and stored the original interior paneling.

Extensive reconstruction would be required to restore the structure to

its original condition. It is not open to the public.

Monticello, Virginia  ∆

_Location: Albemarle County, just off Va. 53, about 2 miles

southeast of Charlottesville._

“Monticello,” Italian for “Little Mountain,” is an enduring tribute to

the genius and versatility of Thomas Jefferson, who personally designed

and supervised erection of the splendid mansion. He resided in it for

many years of his long life, his spirit lives on in its architectural

perfection and the ingenious devices with which he equipped it, and

he is buried nearby. Sitting amid pleasant gardens and lawns on a

hilltop, the residence overlooks Charlottesville; the University of

Virginia, which Jefferson founded and some of whose buildings he

designed; and the green rolling hills of the surrounding countryside.

Especially after his retirement from public life in 1809 until his

death, at the age of 83 on July 4, 1826, the prominent men of his

age made pilgrimages to Monticello. To this day it is visited by the

humble, as well as the great—all who admire Jefferson’s character and

accomplishments.

[Illustration: Monticello.]

In 1757 Jefferson’s father died and passed on the property, 2,750

acres, to him. Eleven years later, he began leveling the hilltop. To

make all parts of it accessible, he built paths, or roundabouts, as he

called them, on its slopes at four different levels; remains of these

are visible today. In 1770 fire destroyed Jefferson’s modest residence,

his birthplace Shadwell, and he moved to Monticello, where he had

already begun building a mansion. The first part of it completed was

the small southwest pavilion, which Jefferson occupied as a bachelor’s

quarters until January 1772, when he brought his bride, Martha Wayles

Skelton, to share it with him. It is still known as “Honeymoon Cottage.”

The first Monticello, vastly different from the present one, was

probably completed in 1775. Constructed of brick with cut-stone

trim, it consisted of a central two-story unit, with pedimented

gable roof running from front to rear and one-story gabled wings,

set perpendicularly to the central block. The chief architectural

accent was the main two-story portico, Doric below and Ionic above.

Small polygonal bays projected from the ends of the wings. Jefferson

made numerous alterations and major changes after the War for

Independence. The present two-wing structure, built between 1793 and

1809, incorporates the rooms of the original house at its rear. It also

reflects a shift in architectural preference in the United States from

Georgian to Roman Revival—elements of both of which are represented.

Jefferson was almost entirely responsible for starting the Roman

Revival.

The mansion consists of 2½ stories over a basement and contains 35

rooms. The dominating feature is the central dome, over an octagonal

room. The house is furnished largely with Jefferson belongings,

including a replica of the small portable desk on which he probably

wrote the Declaration of Independence. Some of the clever devices in

the residence are a 7-day calendar-clock and a dumbwaiter. One room

contains one of the first parquet floors in the United States. The

upper levels, accessible only by narrow staircases, are not shown to

the public.

Before Jefferson built Monticello, every plantation had a group of

small outbuildings such as the laundry, smokehouse, dairy, stable,

weaving house, schoolhouse, and kitchen. Jefferson sought to render

these as inconspicuous as possible and increase the efficiency of

the facilities they provided by constructing two series of rooms for

these purposes beneath the outer sides of two long L-shaped terraces

extending from the house. Below the south terrace, beyond the angle

of the ell, are the kitchen, the cook’s room, servants’ rooms, room

for smoking meat, and the dairy. At the end of this terrace, stands

“Honeymoon Cottage.” Under the far side of the north terrace are the

stables, carriage house, icehouse, and laundry. Jefferson used the

small building terminating this terrace, adjacent to which is the

paddock, as an office. An underground passageway—containing storage

rooms for wine, beer, cider, and rum—connects the basement of the main

house with the series of service rooms along the outer sides of the

ells. Jefferson is buried in the family graveyard, which is adjacent to

the road leading from the house.

Upon Jefferson’s death in 1826, his daughter Martha inherited

Monticello, but was soon forced to sell it, to the first of a series of

private owners. In 1923 the newly organized Thomas Jefferson Memorial

Foundation purchased the estate, the following year opened it to the

public, and has retained ownership to the present day.

Mount Airy, Virginia  ∆

_Location: Richmond County, on the north side of U.S. 360, about 1½

miles west of Warsaw._

Francis Lightfoot Lee resided in this beautiful mansion for a short

time in 1769, while its owner, his new father-in-law, Col. John Tayloe,

completed building Menokin nearby as a residence for him and his bride.

Mount Airy, which sits on a ridge overlooking the Rappahannock Valley,

is one of the finest late Georgian mansions to be erected in America.

Built in the years 1758–62, it is attributed to noted Virginia

architect John Ariss, and is considered to be his best work. It was

the first residence in the English Colonies to carry out completely

a full five-part Palladian villa plan: a main house connected to

two dependencies by quadrant passageways that partially enclose

a forecourt. The massive main section, standing over an elevated

basement, and the two dependencies are two stories high and of dark

brown sandstone construction trimmed in light-colored limestone. The

one-story passageways curve from the main house to the dependencies and

enclose a semicircular forecourt on the north, or entrance, facade.

[Illustration: Mount Airy.]

Prominent characteristics of the main building are front and rear

central projecting pavilions of rusticated limestone, both having

loggias, three windows in the second story, and crowning triangular

pediments; limestone belt course; rusticated angle quoins; and two

pairs of interior chimneys near the ridge of the hip roof, which was

rebuilt after a fire in 1844 and may have replaced a hip-on-hip roof.

The four square piers gracing the front loggia are faced with Roman

Doric pilasters. The rear loggia has three round arches topped with

heavy, marked, voussoired keystones.

The two dependencies have hip roofs and central chimneys, and

their corner quoins match those of the main house. The connecting

passageways, also of stone, are covered with shed roofs concealed from

the front. At the point where they connect with the main house, which

rests on an elevated basement, they are stepped up to allow entrance to

the first floor.