Most likely my favorite historic residential site is Longwood Plantation outside Natchez Mississippi.
What is so unique about the home is that The War Between The States marked the structure. Being that the basement area was finished while the five floors above were not.
My longtime friend David called and invited me to go with him to Natchez Mississippi for their annual Spring Pilgrimage. My friends can tell ya I'm more of a home body, but with a little prodding, I can well be on my way. Hummmmm, Longwood is at Natchez.
I'm at Longwood Plantation!
The journey began with a drive through the grounds.
We rounded a corner, approached a pond, and their she lay peeking through the moss hanging oaks before us in full magnificence.
And what a house!
The mansion is known for its octagonal plan
and sixteen-sided Moorish cupola.
Longwood was designed by a Philadelphian architect Samuel Sloan in 1859 for Dr. Haller Nutt and his wife Julia. Being an owner of five plantations, construction immediately began and led into 1960 on their "town house". In 1861 construction was halted because of the war.
The talented craftsmen
from the North
hurried home and left their tools in place.
The grandest octagonal house in America.
The bottom floor nine rooms in which the family lived in after the war, retains their original furnishings.
All the exterior brickwork was to be covered with stucco.
Thirty-two rooms were planned for Longwood.
Looking upward to the fifth floor cupola.
