David King Gleason provides a grand tour of Virginia's distinctive
plantation homes. As the architectural historian Calder Loth states
in his prefatory note, ""Gleason's elegant photographs provide a
seductive image of life in 'Old Virginia.' He presents one inviting
house after another, complete with handsome interiors, and spacious
grounds dotted with boxwoods and venerable trees."" Unlike those in
the Deep South, most of Virginia's plantation homes were built
before the antebellum period and mainly reflect colonial, English
Georgian, and Jeffersonian styles of architecture. Gleason has
photographed the homes in all seasons, framing some in the pink
blossoms of springtime dogwoods, showing others surrounded by the
golden hues of autumn, and presenting still others blanketed in
January snows. Many of the photographs provide aerial perspectives
that encompass not only the homes themselves but outbuildings and
dependencies, great lawns and terraced gardens. The book begins
with homes in the Tidewater region, where Bacon's Castle, built in
1665 on the south bank of the James River, still stands. It is the
oldest surviving house not only in Virginia but in all of
English-settled North America. Other houses from the Tidewater
region include Westover, considered one of the most beautiful
Georgian residences in the United States; Brandon, at one time the
home of Benjamin Harrison; Appomattox Manor, where Ulysses S. Grant
headquartered for a period during the Civil War; and Carter's
Grove, near Williamsburg. In northern Virginia and the Shenandoah
valley are Gunston Hall, near Alexandria; Woodlawn, in Fairfax
County; Washington's Mount Vernon; and Melrose, a castellated manor
inspired by the romantic literature of Sir Walter Scott. In the
Piedmont, Gleason photographed such houses as Ash Lawn, the home of
James Monroe; Edgemont, an exquisitely proportioned house showing
Thomas Jefferson's influence; and Estouteville, whose great center
hall opens onto identical Tuscan porticos framing magnificent views
of the Virginia countryside. Gleason's photographs of a
mist-shrouded Monticello are among the most beautiful in the book.
In all, Gleason has photographed more than eighty of Virginia's
finest plantation homes. Extensive captions provide concise
histories of each house, including its original builder and
subsequent owners, and its occupants, either friendly or hostile,
during the Revolutionary or Civil wars.
General
Imprint: |
Louisiana State University Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 1989 |
First published: |
September 1989 |
Authors: |
David King Gleason
|
Dimensions: |
267 x 356 x 23mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
160 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8071-1570-1 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-8071-1570-3 |
Barcode: |
9780807115701 |
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