Well, okay, it’s fun to imagine what that like would be like but it was too hot for hoops and all the sundry layers – not to mention sipping tea. I’m not sure how these cotton barons and their families did it here on the river in the deep South, but I suppose you can put up with just about anything to live in grand houses, attend amazing parties, and have every little thing your heart could possibly imagine. (Although I found their libraries terribly lacking…)
The first house we visited today was Magnolia Hall. The last grand house built in Natchez prior to the Civil War (1858), it is a stately home with a wide back porch, doorways ten feet in height, and beautiful furnishings. The two things I found most interesting about this home was 1) the dresses they had on display from their pilgrimage days and 2) the house was built to look like a New York brownstone. So although the house is actually covered with stucco, it has been placed on top of brick and then painted to look like brick and mortar. (Oh, the things that can be done with money!)
The second house we visited is called Stanton Hall. This cotton baron decided he needed a grand home in town, so he bought a city block and built an exquisite five-story house for roughly $83,000 (that doesn’t include furnishings or fine woodwork). It is a showcase of the antebellum South. I had to laugh at one thing, though. Today the Pilgrimage Garden Club has selected colors for the walls to compliment the original furnishings. Back in the 1840s, though, the lady of the house painted every wall completely white. The tour guide said it may have been to gather light in the house (for gaslights don’t shed much light) or because white paint was very expensive and she wanted to show off. I thought she might just be like my dad: all walls should be white.
Magnolia Hall
Stanton Hall
i LOVE historic homes & neat architecture; how cool!
ReplyDeletethanks so much for the birthday card & sweet note, melissa! hope your road trip is great.