the "tobacco houses'" must be repaired as soon as 

 possible. They were probably among the buildings 

 that Mercer had constructed up to 1747, when he 

 reported that he had "saved" 17 of the town's lots by 

 building on them. These lots comprised 8]i acres in 

 the southwest portion of the town. 



The windmill was built on land near the river shore, 

 east of the mansion. It was probably located a con- 

 siderable distance from the shore, although erosion in 

 recent times has eaten back the cliff. In the fall of 

 1958, half of the stone foundations collapsed, leaving 

 a well-defined profile of the stone construction. 

 Fragments of mid-century-type wine bottles found in 

 the lower course of the stones support other evidence 

 that the mill was built in 1 746. 



Mercer mentioned his "office" in 1766. This may 

 have been a detached building used for a law office. 

 Oliver in 1771 listed a barn, a cider mill, two "grain- 

 erys," three cornhouses, five stables, and tobacco 

 houses. He mentioned also that "the East Green 

 House wants repairing, the west d° wants buttments 

 as a security to the wall on the south side." 



Besides the malthouse and brewhouse built in 1 765 

 (which may have been situated at Structure H and 

 the 100-foot-long stone-wall enclosure attached to Wall 

 A), John Mercer in his 1 768 letter mentioned "Cellars, 

 Cooper's house and all the buildings, copper & utensil 

 whatever used about the brewery," as well as the 

 "neat warm" house built for the brewer. When the 

 property was advertised in 1791, "Overseers houses," 

 "Negroe quarters," and "C!orn houses" also were 

 mentioned. 



The development of the area in the southwest 

 portion of the plantation probably sustained — or 

 established for the first time — the character originally 

 intended for Marlborough Town. The situation of 

 the mansion was undoubtedly affected by this, as 

 indeed must have been the whole plantation plan. 

 The archeological evidence alone shows that the plan 

 was abnormal in terms of the typical 18th-century 

 Virginia plantation. The rectangular enclosure 

 formed by the brick walls cast of the mansion doubt- 

 less framed the formal garden over which the im- 

 ported English gardener, William Black, presided. It 

 connected at the northwest with the kitchen in such 

 a way that the kitchen formed a corner of the en- 

 closure, becoming in effect a gatehouse, protecting 

 the mansion's privacy at the northwest from the 

 utilitarian slave quarter and agricultural precincts 

 bevond. Walls A-I and AH, howe\er, related the 



mansion directly to this plantation-business area and 

 caused it to .ser\e also as a gate to the enclosure. 



The position of the kitchen dependency northwest 

 of the house is the only suggestion of Palladian layout, 

 other than the garden. The southern aspect of the 

 house and the rigid boundary to domestic acit\ity 

 imposed by Walls A-I and A-II probably pre\cnted 

 construction of a balancing unit to the southwest. 

 Slave quarters, stables, and perhaps the barn appar- 

 rently were located to the north. 



Since it was not until 1755 that Mercer came into 

 full title to the town, the town plan and its legal 

 restrictions were influential in determining the way 

 in which the plantation was to grow. The house and 

 the surroimding layout were, therefore, wholly pecu- 

 liar to the special circiunstances of Marlborough and 

 probably also to the individuality of its owner. The 

 approach to the house from the waterside was to the 

 south end of the building, leading up to it by the 

 still-existing road from the creek and along the old 

 "Broad Street across the Town," which probably 

 bordered Walls A-I and B-I. The mansion thus 

 had a little of the character of a feudal manor house, 

 as well as some of the appearance of an English 

 townhouse that abuts the street, with the seclusion of 

 its yards and gardens defended by walls. In many 

 respects it only slightly resembled, in its relationship 

 to surrounding structures, the more representative 

 plantations of its period. 



The house was well oriented to view, \entilation, 

 and dominant location. The veranda, which afforded 

 communication from one part to another out-of-doors, 

 as well as a place to sit, was exposed to the prevailing 

 southwesterly summer winds. In the winter it was 

 equally well placed so as to be in the lee of northeast 

 storms sweeping down the Potomac. The view, 

 hidden today by trees, included Accokeek Creek and 

 a lengthy vista up Potomac Creek. Presumably, 

 a road or driveway skirted the kitchen at the west and 

 perhaps ended in a driveway in front of the house. 

 The gate in Wall E south of the kitchen would have 

 been a normal entrance for horses and vehicles. 



Within the garden was the summerhouse built by 

 Mercer in 1765. From the east windows and steps 

 of the house and from the garden could be seen the 

 Potomac, curving towards the bay, and the flailing 

 "drivers" of the windmill near the Potomac shore. 



The excavated and written records of Marlborough 

 are a microcosm of Virginia colonial history. They 

 depict the emergence of central authority in the 17th 



[78 



