Mount Airy
Mount Airy
Richmond County, Virginia
1748-1758
Architect: Unknown
The architect of this colonial plantation house is unknown, but could possibly have been a Mr John Ariss (1729-1799).
Whoever the architect he based its garden elevation on a Palladian-style country house published in James Gibbs' A Book of Architecture (1728). Gibbs' work was an important design source for colonial architects and builders. Although Mount Airy is smaller than the Gibbs scheme, Gibbs' central pedimented pavilion, employing an arcaded loggia and rusticated stonework, was faithfully reproduced in the Virginia house.
Although he was outside Lord Burlington's inner Palladian circle, Gibbs was one of the leading figures in British architecture and often infused his Anglo-Palladianism with elements of the baroque, in which he had been trained in Rome. He adapted the pedimented pavilion with loggia from Palladio's design for the Villa Saraceno, published in I Quattro Libri.
Mount Airy's Palladian character was reinforced through the use of curved hyphens connecting to two-story dependencies framing the opposite elevation.
Mount Airy was built for John Tayloe II who employed the architect and joiner William Buckland to craft its interiors. Buckland's work was lost when the house burned in 1844. The interior was rebuilt with its original walls.
Dimensions: 13"w x 9"h x 7"d
Weight: 11.6lbs
Scale: 1:75
$900.00 / £562.50
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