The morning damp & disagreeable—Mr Stadley continues to Day with Miss Prissy. We received this morning the Williamsburg Gazette's—Several Addresses appear, and poetical Encomiums on the Countess of Dunmore lately arrived there.
Mr. Bracken. & Mr. Henley, are still contending in furious Combat, but poor Henley seems to be on the verge of a Defeat—I have all along intended, & shall now attempt to give a short discription of Nomini-Hall, & the several Buildings, & improvements adjoining it; as well for my own amusement, as also to be able with certainty to inform others of a Seat as magnificent in itself & with as many surrounding Conveniences, as any I have ever seen, & perhaps equal to any in this Colony—
Mr Carter now possesses 60000 Acres of Land; & about 600 Negroes—But his Estate is much divided, & lies in almost every county in this Colony; He has Lands in the neighbourhood of Williamsburg, & an elegant & Spacious House in that City—He owns a great part of the well known Iron-Works near Baltimore in Maryland—And he has one or more considerable Farms not far from Anopolis. He has some large tracts of Land far to the West, at a place call'd "Bull Run," & the "Great Meadows" among the mountains. He owns Lands near Dumfries on the Potowmack; & large Tracts in this & the neighbouring Counties.—Out of these Lands, which are situated so remote from each other in various parts of these two large Provinces, Virginia, & Maryland, Mr Carter has chosen for the place of his habitation a high spot of Ground in Westmoreland County at the Head of the Navigation of the River Nomini, where he has erected a large Elegant House, at a vast expence, which commonly goes by the name of Nomini-Hall. This House is built with Brick, but the bricks have been covered with strong lime Mortar; so that the building is now perfectly white; It is seventy-six Feet long from East to west; & forty-four wide from North to South, two Stories high; the Pitch of the lower story seventeen Feet, & the upper Story twelve—
It has five Stacks of Chimneys, tho two of these serve only for ornament. There is a beautiful Jutt, on the South side, eighteen feet long, & eight Feet deep from the wall which is supported by three tall pillars—On the South side, or front, in the upper story are four Windows each having twenty-four Lights of Glass. In the lower story are two Windows each having forty-two Lights of Glass, & two Doors each having Sixteen Lights—At the East end the upper story has three Windows each with eighteen Lights; & below two Windows both with eighteen Lights & a Door with nine—
The North side I think is most beautiful of all; In the upper Story is a Row of seven Windows with eighteen Lights a piece; and below six windows, with the like number of lights; besides a large Portico in the middle, at the sides of which are two Windows each with eighteen Lights.—At the West end are no Windows—The Number of Lights in all is five hundred, & forty nine—There are four Rooms on a Floor, disposed of in the following manner. Below is a dining Room where we usually sit; the second is a dining-Room for the Children; the third is Mr Carters study; & the fourth is a Ball-Room thirty Feet long—Above stairs, one Room is for Mr & Mrs Carter; the second for the young Ladies; & the other two for occasional Company—As this House is large, & stands on a high piece of Land it may be seen a considerable distance; I have seen it at the Distance of six Miles—At equal Distances from each corner of this Building stand four other considerable Houses, which I shall next a little describe. First, at the North East corner, & at 100 yards Distance stands the School-House; At the North-West Corner, & at the same Distance stands the stable; At the South-West Corner, & at the same Distance, stands the Coach-House; And lastly, at the South-East corner, & at an equal distance stands the Work-House. These four Houses are the corner of a Square of which the Great-House is the Center—First the School-House is forty five feet long, from East to West, & twenty-seven from North to South; It has five well-finished, convenient Rooms, three below stairs, & two above; It is built with Brick a Story & a half high with Dormant Windows; In each Room is a fire; In the large Room below-Stairs we keep our School; the other two Rooms below which are smaller are allowed to Mr Randolph the Clerk; The Room above the School-Room Ben and I live in; & the other Room above Stairs belongs to Harry & Bob. Five of us live in this House with great Neatness, & convenience; each one has a Bed to himself—And we are call'd by the Bell to the Great-House to Breakfast &c—The Wash-House is built in the same form, & is of the same Size of the School-House—From the front yard of the Great House, to the Wash-House is a curious Terrace, covered finely with Green turf, & about five foot high with a slope of eight feet, which appears exceeding well to persons coming to the front of the House—This Terrace is produced along the Front of the House, and ends by the Kitchen; but before the Front-Doors is a broad flight of steps of the same Height, & slope of the Terrace.
The Stable & coach-House are of the same Length & Breadth as the School- and Wash-House, only they are higher pitched to be convenient for holding Hay & Fodder.[140]
Due East of the Great House are two Rows of tall, flourishing, beautiful, Poplars, beginning on a Line drawn from the School to the Wash-House; these Rows are something wider than the House, & are about 300 yards Long, at the Eastermost end of which is the great Road leading through Westmorland to Richmond. These Rows of Poplars form an extreemely pleasant avenue, & at the Road, through them, the House appears most romantic, at the same time that it does truly elegant—The Area of the Triangle made by the Wash-House, Stable, & School-House is perfectly levil, & designed for a bowling-Green, laid out in rectangular Walks which are paved with Brick, & covered over with burnt Oyster-Shells—In the other Triangle, made by the Wash-House, Stable, & Coach House is the Kitchen, a well-built House, as large as the School-House, Bake-House; Dairy; Store-House & several other small Houses; all which stand due West, & at a small distance from the great House, & form a little handsome Street. These Building stand about a quarter of a Mile from a Fork of the River Nomini, one Branch of which runs on the East of us, on which are two Mills; one of them belongs to Mr Turburville, the other to Mr Washington, both within a mile—another branch of the River runs on the West of us, on which and at a small distance above the House stands Mr Carters Merchant Mill,[141] which I have in other places described; to go to the mill from the House we descend I imagine above an 100 Feet; the Dam is so broad that two carriages may pass conveniently on it; & the Pond from twelve to Eighteen Foot water—at the fork Mr Carter has a Granary, where he lands his Wheat, for the mill Iron from the Works &c—
In the Evening Mr Carter sent for Ben & I to play over the Sonata which we have lately learn'd; we performed it, & had not only Mr Stadleys Approbation, but his praise; he did me the honour to say that "I play a good Flute." He took a Flute also and play'd; which put me in mind, at once, of the speech of the Shepherd in virgil.—Non tu in Triviis, indocte, solebas Stridenti miserum Stipula disperdere cament [carmen]. For when compared to him, the best that Ben or I can do, is like Crows among Nightingales—We play'd till ten, and separated, I gave to Miss Harriot, for saying a good lesson, half a Bit—
Saturday 19.
The morning still wet & disagreeable—Last night I dreamed much of the Girl, which, I most of all others, esteem, & admire; of Laura; But oh! I dreamed She was treacherous!—If it be true, I must suppress the Greatness of my Disappointment by reflecting that I had not well enough considered this Sentiment of the poet, That,—Varium et mutabile Femina—I discover weakness when I am writing in this manner; but Anxiety, and mighty-Love carry me over the bounds which I set for the regulation of my conduct—Dreams indeed are vain & false; But perhaps Laura may think that Lovers vows are vain & trifling as they!—I spend the day in my Room looking over the Catalogue of the Reviewers for August, September, October & November 1773.—Ben, & Bob, & Harry, out tho the Day is bad—Mr Stadley is yet busy with the young Ladies—