The Architecture of Colonial America

by Harold Donaldson Eberlein

“HOSPITAL” HOUSE, YORKTOWN, VA.

Of Southern Colonial type.

permitted a less abrupt angle without impairing the water-shedding qualities of the roof.

One of the most strongly characteristic features of these houses was supplied by the outside chimneys at each end. They were of brick or of stone, when by chance it could be secured, and occasionally, in some of the later houses built according to this early tradition, they are of brick and stone combined, the stone being used for the heavy base while the stack is made of brick. Throughout their whole height, these chimneys were built outside the house wall, whether the house was of timber or brick, and were broad at the base narrowing down by successive stages of sloped weatherings and offsets, in much the same manner as a Gothic buttress, to the bottom of the stack which rises straight and slim by comparison with its substructure. The chimney of the Thoroughgood house is an excellent example of this method of chimney treatment. The Southern exterior chimneys, in many cases, had the sloped weatherings and offsets both at sides and back while the few early New England chimneys of the same type were usually flat at the back and were graded off only at the sides.

Another noticeable characteristic of the early Southern houses is to be seen in the long dormers with sharp-peaked gables that often pierced the roofs, quite in contrast to the comparative rarity of dormers in the early New England houses of similar date. The same manner of introducing a sharp-peaked dormer or small gable into the side of a pitch roof is to be seen over the doors of some of the old Southern barns. The occurrence of the gambrel is not nearly so frequent as in the North nor do we find evidences of framing with the overhang. It may be that this last mentioned point of difference between the South and North can in part be accounted for on the ground that the overhang in England lingered longest and met with most favour in towns while in the open country it was less in evidence. As many of the New England colonists came from towns while a great proportion of those in the South came from rural surroundings, it was but natural that both should perpetuate the features to which they were most accustomed. This hypothesis, of course, is purely conjectural but it is by no means impossible since very slight and trifling matters often serve to determine choice. In the smaller and humbler dwellings of the South were to be found the same general method of construction and the same features of contour as in their larger prototypes.

It would be exceedingly difficult to lay down any specific generalisations regarding the interior plan of the early Southern houses inasmuch as they varied widely in different instances according to the individual requirements of the occupants, the size of their families and the manner in which they saw fit to make additions from time to time as necessity dictated. We have seen that Major Thomas Chamberlayne’s house had two rooms upstairs and two rooms down, divided by wooden partitions which may or may not have been covered with tenacious clay stucco and whitewashed. In this manner walls were sometimes finished, at others they were wainscotted. The windows were glazed with small panes set in lead. In the house of Governour Berkeley at Green Spring were six apartments while that of William Fitzhugh, which however had undergone sundry additions, numbered twelve or thirteen. The Stratton house in Henrico had three chambers above stairs and one below along with a hall, kitchen, and pantry. In York County we are told of houses that had only a hall or dining room, a kitchen and a bedchamber which were probably all on one floor. Then, again, there were houses with a hall and kitchen on the lower floor and a chamber above, while some of the wealthier people had commonly three or four rooms on each floor. In all events, the houses followed the same general plan and where there were many apartments they were apt to be in the nature of ells or extensions clustered in a rambling manner about the central core which was of the type common to the country.

Three features are deserving of particular attention in the plan of the early Southern house, however varied its internal arrangements might otherwise be, and the more so because they persisted and found a recognised place in the plan of the Georgian house as it was developed in the South. In the first place, the hall, which was also referred to as the dining hall or parlour hall, was wide and afforded ample space and circulation of air. It was the place where meals were commonly eaten and where the family sat. The house door opened directly into it and it exactly corresponded with and fulfilled the functions of the great hall in the small manor houses of England. This interior disposition of the house was suited to the climate and when the Georgian mode rose in the ascendant the wide hallway, often extending the full depth of the building and used more or less as a living room, was retained. It was quite in contrast to the small entry or the narrow stair-hall of New England houses which the rigours of New England winters made it desirable to have as a protection for the rest of the house when the house door was opened. In the second place, the Southern housewife often found it convenient and desirable in the scheme of her domestic economy to have the kitchen in a separate building somewhat removed from the body of the house. There were servants enough to make this arrangement practicable and the mild climate favoured it also. Besides, this plan fitted in well with the practice of having the servants’ quarters outside the house. This feature of detached kitchens was also perpetuated in the Georgian era and not only was its influence felt in the South but we find instances of it in Pennsylvania. Such was the arrangement at Graeme Park, Horsham, near Philadelphia, built in 1722 by Sir William Keith, whom we know was favourably impressed by the manner of living in the South where he had visited prior to establishing himself at Horsham. We also find the detached offices and servants’ quarters at Stenton, the home of James Logan; at Hope Lodge, Whitemarsh and at Mount Pleasant, the home of that doughty and ingenious old sailor man and merchant, Captain John Macpherson, afterwards the scene of much lavish entertainment by Benedict Arnold and his bride when they occupied it for a brief season. The same arrangement also obtained at Cliveden and was not improbably suggested to Chief Justice Chew by the recollection of a similar plan in the homes of his Southern kinsfolk. This feature of the detached kitchen forms an interesting point of connexion between the domestic Georgian architecture of the Middle Colonies and that of the Southern. In the third place, the majority of the Southern Colonial houses had one or more bedchambers on the ground floor. This feature proved itself of practical convenience and, like the other two just enumerated, was often perpetuated in the Georgian mode. Indeed, the practice has continued in favour to our own day.