With an ashlar base beneath thick rubble stone walls covered in stucco, brick quoins on the corners, and cut stone jack arches above the sash windows, the facades of the main house at Mount Pleasant were predominantly the concern of the masons. But it is the woodwork that describes the interior spaces, creates their variations … Continue reading “Another Chimney-piece, with a very rich frame over it, adorned with a Pediment.” Abraham Swan, The British Architect.

Swan continued by comparing bad “Decorations with Superadded Ornaments” to a “clown in a laced Waistcoat.” That was written on the second page of his preface to his two volume publication, A Collection of Designs in Architecture. Swan made it clear that by hiring him, he would be able to “accommodate the Great and Noble … Continue reading “I have endeavored all along to form such designs as are capable of receiving good Decorations” Abraham Swan, London, 1757