It could easily be rebuilt. Many craftsmen were away at war at the time. Much of the interior was plaster….when only 20 years earlier, much of the interiors would’ve been marble and cane stone columns. It wasn’t a matter of cheapness, but many aspects were curtailed for due to WWI…ie. The Great War to end all wars. lol The columns on the four arched doorways of the ballroom would’ve been turned marble from Italy or France, the baseboards would’ve all been Verdi marble and the grand staircase would been Carrara marble from Italy. I was there, and remember the staircase wood balustrade and railing formulation..was shaped as if to made of marble, but it was all wood. The white paint in some areas was applied and honed of many coats to attain that smooth finish to attain the verisimilitude of honed marble. This is not a criticism whatsoever, but it was a sign of the times. The great house was really just stage set for artwork of paintings, furniture, and objects of Art. What was unique about WH, was the 385 acres the house was placed within. The gardens around the house were extensions of the rooms within. All the grounds and statuary were of the highest caliber. The house floor plans are in full at copied for all to learn from. The Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Free Library, the Widener Library, the Philadelphia Athenaeum, UofP, and the Hagley Museum all have blue prints of of one design or another. The Orangery was never built. It itself was a grand structure of Georgian Palladian perfection. All the upper mantles were made in London at the Studio od White Alom at 15 Hanover square, the building is all there and it’s a condominium today. At least one of the upper mantle was 18th century….maybe two(?) The Living Room upper mantel and the Small Dining Rm upper mantle came out of an 18th century house in London. This very common at the time. Many great houses in the USA coveted something original and design a whole room around it. White Alom (so?) we’re famous for their marble mantle piece’. Auctioneers and dealers can be joyfully fooled at the almost undetectable perfection of the design and execution from their 18th century originals. One Stotesbury fireplace and upper mantle remains. It’s in the Stotesbury townhouse in Philadelphia. Sadly, the upper mantle has been foolishly painted out in Navaho white paint….over the original finish that had gold leaf filets over an oil based cream white enamel. Old enamel oils based paint was made by hand well into the teens of the 20th century. Painted finished were then honed with oil and fine emory cloth to achieve an extremely flawless finish liken to honed marble. If I commuted any sin, it was to not dismantle the upper mantles at WH when I was a teen. I saw it as vandalism for me to have done it then. But I so wish I had so that they would be around to day. They were huge, but all pieced together for transport. To my dying day, this will be an horrible regret. The two marble mantles in the ballroom were removed before demolition. Their whereabout is unknown to me. They were huge at almost 7’ high from floor to mantle. I’d like to know where the pair of chandeliers when also. They do exist too. What fun it would be to recreate the house and its collection put back.
It could easily be rebuilt. Many craftsmen were away at war at the time. Much of the interior was plaster….when only 20 years earlier, much of the interiors would’ve been marble and cane stone columns. It wasn’t a matter of cheapness, but many aspects were curtailed for due to WWI…ie. The Great War to end all wars. lol
The columns on the four arched doorways of the ballroom would’ve been turned marble from Italy or France, the baseboards would’ve all been Verdi marble and the grand staircase would been Carrara marble from Italy. I was there, and remember the staircase wood balustrade and railing formulation..was shaped as if to made of marble, but it was all wood. The white paint in some areas was applied and honed of many coats to attain that smooth finish to attain the verisimilitude of honed marble. This is not a criticism whatsoever, but it was a sign of the times. The great house was really just stage set for artwork of paintings, furniture, and objects of Art.
What was unique about WH, was the 385 acres the house was placed within. The gardens around the house were extensions of the rooms within. All the grounds and statuary were of the highest caliber.
The house floor plans are in full at copied for all to learn from. The Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Free Library, the Widener Library, the Philadelphia Athenaeum, UofP, and the Hagley Museum all have blue prints of of one design or another. The Orangery was never built. It itself was a grand structure of Georgian Palladian perfection.
All the upper mantles were made in London at the Studio od White Alom at 15 Hanover square, the building is all there and it’s a condominium today.
At least one of the upper mantle was 18th century….maybe two(?) The Living Room upper mantel and the Small Dining Rm upper mantle came out of an 18th century house in London. This very common at the time. Many great houses in the USA coveted something original and design a whole room around it. White Alom (so?) we’re famous for their marble mantle piece’. Auctioneers and dealers can be joyfully fooled at the almost undetectable perfection of the design and execution from their 18th century originals.
One Stotesbury fireplace and upper mantle remains. It’s in the Stotesbury townhouse in Philadelphia. Sadly, the upper mantle has been foolishly painted out in Navaho white paint….over the original finish that had gold leaf filets over an oil based cream white enamel. Old enamel oils based paint was made by hand well into the teens of the 20th century. Painted finished were then honed with oil and fine emory cloth to achieve an extremely flawless finish liken to honed marble.
If I commuted any sin, it was to not dismantle the upper mantles at WH when I was a teen. I saw it as vandalism for me to have done it then. But I so wish I had so that they would be around to day. They were huge, but all pieced together for transport. To my dying day, this will be an horrible regret. The two marble mantles in the ballroom were removed before demolition. Their whereabout is unknown to me. They were huge at almost 7’ high from floor to mantle. I’d like to know where the pair of chandeliers when also. They do exist too.
What fun it would be to recreate the house and its collection put back.