More Architecture, Virginia Style

In matters of style, swim with the current. In matters of principle, stand like a rock. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Oh hi! Are you dying for more details from our family trip to Virginia? Of course you are! Hang on while I drag out the slide projector. Ughhh ... there. OK, now sit back and get comfy...

After the beauty (and symmetry) of Stratford Hall, we experienced the simplicity and grace of a little brick country church -- with a cemetery that rests some of the first souls to "settle" our beloved country, no less. The lives those tombstones marked dated back to the 1600s -- craziness!
But for me, the gorgeous wrought iron gate and moss growing among the centuries' old brick were even more compelling...

Several days later, we got a break from the kiddos and took a day trip to Monticello. If you haven't seen it, you must. Run, don't walk! If it looks familiar, just flip over a nickel and there it will be -- in all its Roman, domed glory.

Besides writing the Declaration of Independence and being president, Jefferson considered the design and development of this unique, beautiful home his proudest achievement. Who could blame him? The home's luxury and innovation would be remarkable today, let alone more than 230 years ago.

The columns, the french doors, the gardens ... the dumb waiter just big enough for a wine bottle to travel from the cellar to the dining room. Really?!? Why don't I have one of those?! It's 2010, for crying out loud.

There were so many unusual touches that made this place befitting a self-styled architect, great thinker and revolutionary: an office with a desk that offered a reclining lounger instead of just a boring old swivel chair. (Build a democracy, take a nap ... whatever!)

And a bedroom that adjoined the office (or "cabinet," as he called it) via an alcove bed. I think it's adorable and space saving -- but some folks found it a little odd. Apparently a visiting European dignitary wrote in a letter, "The president's bed is in a doorway." Well, at least it's not as harsh as the judges on "Design Star."

President Jefferson was full of unusual ideas. Like the octagonal guest room (also with an alcove bed). Or the bright yellow dining room, which was evidently a very fashionable, expensive color back then. (Bet he'd be surprised to see it painted in dashes down the highway these days!)

Visiting Virginia was inspiring on many levels. History and natural beauty are one thing, but I wasn't ready for the rockin' design style of our forefathers!

Architecture, Virginia Style

"The point of travel is not to set foot on foreign land, it is to at last set foot in one's own country as foreign land." ~ Chesterton

After a week of touring historic sites in Virginia, my head is full of images of some of the grand homes of our forefathers. Some of their design ideas were a ill-advised (FOUR giant, homicidal stone staircases each side of the house ... really?) -- some were simply divine (alcove beds at Monticello -- adorable!) So I just have to share! I'll split this into two parts, lest I start sounding like a droning tour guide...

First, we visited Stratford Hall, birthplace and home of Robert E. Lee and the generations of Lees before him who included a governor, patriots, signers of the Declaration of Independence (two) and even women's rights activists.

As our droning tour guide pointed out, the mansion's style showcases the three characteristics of English architecture: "Symmetry, symmetry and symmetry." Heh. But seriously, get a "load" of the brick at this place (600,000 -- all hand fired on site.

We started the tour in an outlying building that is believed to be the coachman's quarters. This mural of a horse is thought to have been painted by his daughter, Sally.

Then we made our way into the Great House. And as I was trying to keep Little Miss M from slipping under the velvet rope and testing General Lee's bed for herself, I missed the part about "no photography allowed inside" and took this picture. It's the seven-foot tray ceiling in the Great Hall. Oops. Chastised by the gasps of my fellow tourists, I moved quickly to the back of the group where I stood, appropriately shamed. But the picture of this amazing woodwork and ceiling was worth it. Wouldn't you just die for a ceiling like this?

By the way, here's a photo (from the home's Web site, not my own illicit camera) of the bedroom where my girl DID eventually break free and slip through the gate where she proceded to run toward the bed and dance around like an imp. Fortunately, her Daddy coaxed her back before anyone noticed and we got the heck out of there...

More on Monticello next time!