North Façade

North Façade. . , You are standing before the north front of the Rosewell mansion, the home for over a century of the influential Page family, leaders of government and society in Virginia from the mid-1600s to America's Federal period. Begun about 1725, by Mann Page I (1691-1730), probably working with an unidentified architect, the house was built by European craftsmen, indentured servants, and African slaves under the direction of Mann Page., Constructed of locally-produced brick with key structural and ornamental elements of imported white marble, the mansion's exterior was noted for its near-perfect symmetry. The main block rose three floors above an English basement and was topped by a lead roof on which two glass-sided belvederes stood above the east and west walls. Flanked by two service buildings, the main block's footprint was slightly wider than that of the Governor's Palace in Williamsburg. The mansion is often said to have been the largest private dwelling in Britain's American colonies., Visitors would ascend white marble steps to a double-leaf front door that opened on a great hall. In the mid-1700s, guests assembled here to feast, enjoy musical programs, and discuss pressing issues of state. Inside the mahogany-paneled hall, which covered a third of the first floor, the visitor walked on imported black and white marble tiles laid in diamond patterns., On the far side of the hall facing the front door was a majestic staircase with hand-carved trim that ascended to the second floor. Hall and stairway were lighted by a two-story round-headed window in the east wall. Warmed in winter by a large fireplace on its east side and cooled in stimmer by cross ventilation provided by a corridor leading to the south door, the hall was flanked on the right by two large rooms with closets, possibly bed chambers, and another short corridor that gave access to a service stairway that rose from the basement to the west belvedere. Another smaller room in the southeast corner, perhaps originally used as a parlor, was entered from the south corridor., (captions) , Conjectural drawing rendered about 1940 showing Rosewell as it may have looked in its days of greatest elegance 1745 to 1760. From The Mansions of Virginia, 1706-1776, by Thomas Tileston Waterman. , , The mansion several years after a renovation in the early 1850s. Note the different treatment of the roof, the absence of belvederes, and the painted door frame, which concealed the fine ornamental stone and brick work. Photo from The Mansions of Virginia, 1706-1776, by Thomas Tileston Waterman., The North entrance of the main block of the Rosewell mansion about 1890. The door opened directly into the great stair hall. Note the many signs of deterioration of the mansion. Photo by George and Huestis Cook., The Great Hall and main stairway as seen from the front door about 1890. Photo by George and Huestis Cook.