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.
Mount Pleasant
“The architect models in space as a sculptor in clay.” Geoffrey Scott, The Architecture of Humanism
Approaching the main house on her way to the drawing room, a visitor in the 1760’s would be struck by the disciplined symmetry of the façade and skillful use of the classical orders. Perhaps the similarity to several buildings in town, whether recently completed or existing only as engraved prints, would be noted. Paul Goldberger … Continue reading “The architect models in space as a sculptor in clay.” Geoffrey Scott, The Architecture of Humanism
There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Henry James, “The Portrait of a Lady”
If your social status were such that you were likely to receive an invitation to visit and take tea with Margaret Macpherson in her drawing room at Mount Pleasant, your journey in the 1760's would have been much different than one made today. After three miles on the Wissahickon Road heading northwest out of the … Continue reading There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. Henry James, “The Portrait of a Lady”
“Alone by the Schuylkill, a wanderer, I strayed.”
I’m away from work this week. This is an abbreviated post regarding ancillary material associated with Mount Pleasant. Less than a year after the city of Philadelphia took possession of Mount Pleasant, the first directive from the Committee on Police and Superintendence, on November 29, 1870, authorized Park Keeper O’Donnell to move into one of … Continue reading “Alone by the Schuylkill, a wanderer, I strayed.”
“This is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing-room.” Virginia Woolf
What do we know about the drawing room at Mount Pleasant and how do we know it? What changes to the space have occurred over time? If there have been changes, how might they hamper our ability to understand the maker's intent and the original owner's desires? Mount Pleasant has been celebrated as an historic … Continue reading “This is an important book, the critic assumes, because it deals with war. This is an insignificant book because it deals with the feelings of women in a drawing-room.” Virginia Woolf
In Proportion to the Trouble 