Longwood (Natchez, Mississippi)

Infobox_nrhp | name =Longwood
nrhp_type =nhl

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caption = HABS photo taken in 1936.
location = 140 Lower Woodville Road, Natchez, Mississippi
lat_degrees = 31
lat_minutes = 32
lat_seconds = 12
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 91
long_minutes = 24
long_seconds = 17
long_direction = W
locmapin = Mississippi
area =
built =1860
architect= Samuel Sloan
architecture= Octagon Mode, Italian Villa, Other
designated= December 16, 1969cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=824&ResourceType=Building
title=Longwood |accessdate=2007-10-20|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = December 16, 1969cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
refnum=69000079

Longwood, also known as Nutt's Folly, is an historic antebellum octagonal mansion located at 140 Lower Woodville Road in Natchez, Mississippi, USA. The mansion is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and is a National Historic Landmark.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/69000079.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Longwood / Nutt's Folly] |345 KB|date=May 30, 1975 |author=Patricia Heintzelman |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/69000079.pdf Accompanying 13 images, exterior and interior, from 1960, 1969, 1975, and undated.] |4.58 MB] Longwood is the largest octagonal house in the United States.cite web |url=http://mdah.state.ms.us/manuscripts/z1817.html|title=Pilgrimage Historical Association Collection: Nutt Family Papers 1841-1911 |accessdate = 2008-07-14 |publisher=Mississippi Department of Archives and History]

Longwood was featured in the southern United States segment of "Guide to Historic Homes of America,"cite web |url= http://www.bobvila.com/BVTV/AE/America.html |title= "Bob Vila's Guide to Historic Homes of America." |format= html |work= A&E Network |date= 1996 |quote= ] an in-depth production by Bob Vila for the A&E Network.

The mansion is known for its octagonal plan, byzantine onion-shaped dome,cite web |url= http://www.decorandstyle.com/july2007/antebellum.html |title= "Echoes of an Era." |author= Kristin Reichardt Kirwan |format= html |work= Decor & Style Magazine |date= July 2007 |quote= The most fascinating house in Natchez … is the ghostly masterpiece of Longwood. The home was to include architectural features that were ahead of their time: The exterior double walls were 27 inches thick with a 5-inch air space to leave room for sliding glass windows to provide maximum ventilation. Running water was to have been brought into the house via pipes connected to the dome on the roof, in which rainwater could be stored. ] and the contrast between its ornately finished first floor and the unfinished upper floors.

Samuel Sloan, a Philadelphia architect, designed the home in 1859 for cotton planter Dr. Haller Nutt.cite web |url= http://www.natchezmansions.com/html/longwood.html |title= Longwood |author= Natchez Mansions |format= html |quote= Longwood in its unfinished state illustrates the impact of the Civil War on the economy of the South. ] Work was halted in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War. Dr Haller died of pneumonia in 1864, leaving the work incomplete. Of the thirty-two rooms planned for the house, only nine rooms on the first floor were completed.

Haller Nutt's never-finished Natchez home, Longwood, was the last burst of southern opulence before war brought the cotton barons' dominance to an end. Longwood, fortunately, survived decades of neglect and near-abandonment to become one of Natchez's most popular attractions.cite web |url=http://www.southpoint.com/states/ms/rodney.htm |title=Ghost Town of Rodney |accessdate = 2008-07-14 |publisher=Southpoint Travel Guide]

See also

* Octagon house

References

External links

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