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•iguro 44. — Plan of mansion house drawn on a Mutual Assurancy Society of 

 Virginia policy of 1806 after the house was acquired by John Cooke. 

 {Courtesy nj Virginia State Library.) 



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was employed. Was there, perhaps, a small gilded 

 cupola to break the long expancc of roof line? Were 

 the 162 ballnsters, purchased from George Elliott 

 towards the time of completion, made for staircases 

 indoors or for a balustrade along the roof? Or did 

 they border the roof of the veranda? To these ques- 

 tions there can be no answer. Another cjuestion is 

 wlicthcr the house, described as one story high, was 

 built o\er a high basement or near ground level. 

 Here wc have evidence pointing to the latter, since 

 the foundation had two separate cellars, eciualling 

 "a Cellar under about half the House." A high or 

 English basement, by contrast, would ha\e been 

 continuous. Furthermore, the veranda was at, or 

 near, the ground level. The ground fioor thus might 

 have been as much as 3 feet higher, reached by steps 

 from the veranda — but not a whole story higher. 

 The depth of the cellars, ranging from about 4 

 to 5 feet below ground level, implies that the first 

 floor was not more than 3 feet above ground level. 



Suggestions as to details of trim and finish are 

 made here and there, again in fragmentary hints. 

 Several broken pieces of a dark-gray, fossil-embedded 

 marble sur\ive from the "'chimney-pieces" and 

 hearths of fireplaces (fig. 42). They may be the 

 ■'hewn stone from Mr. Nicholson" paid for in 1749. 

 A piece of plaster cyma-recta cornice molding shows 

 that some rooms, at least, had plaster rather than 

 wooden ceiling trim (USXM 59.1829, ill. 4). 

 Thomas ()li\er"s statement that '"the Manor house 

 wants lead lights in some of the windows" suggests an 

 unparalleled anachronism, since the term "lead 

 light" is an ancient one referring to casement sashes 

 of leaded glass. But it is inconceivable, in the context 

 of colonial architectural history, that this house 

 should ha\e had leaded-casement windows, and it is 

 \-ery probable, therefore, that the semiliterate Oliver 

 was indulging in a rural archaism to which he 

 had transferred the meaning of "sash lights." The 

 latter term was used commonly to denote double- 



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