longwood

 

Longwood, the "Oriental Villa" begun in 1859 for Haller Nutt and his wife Julia is nothing if not impressive. Even in its unfinished state, it captures the imagination.
The concept design intended to capture light and reflect it throughout each floor from the observatory and the solarium to the basement is pretty amazing for its time.

The plans for the house are on display in the upper hall. The marble was never installed on the floors nor were the alcoves ever stuccoed. There is no crown or dentil moulding.
Atop nail kegs in the adjacent rooms, carpenters tools lay rusting when they were dropped when those who held them were called to war.
Only the basement, that was to act as storage during the construction was complete enough for the family to occupy. They hunkered down there and waited the end of the war and the completion of their beautiful home. The completion never happened.
Visitors always ask why not, Harry, our guide told us. We want to see Haller Nutt's dream realized and the beautiful octagonal villa finished.
Many of the beautiful furnishings never arrived due to blockades and delays in shipments due to the war. Some did, though, their crates still bearing the inscriptions "Julia Nutt, Longwood" on their wooden sides, visible in the unoccupied rooms upstairs.
Her grandchildren lived in the basement of Longwood until 1968. Julia herself, one of the heroines of the era in these parts, found it in herself to keep house and home and family together, by selling off parcels of land and livestock. Her husband died at Longwood in 1864 leaving her with the substantial obligation of Longwood, eight children and the farms they owned.
Portraits of her relatives, among them, Governors of Mississippi connect her to Natchez history, other of its great homes and families. But the mistress of Longwood has earned a place of note on her own... much as the house itself.