The Landscape and Architecture of Longwood: A Romantic Exercise in Hubris

Abstract

FIGURE 1 Longwood as built (Nineteenth-century engraving.) The Landscape and Architecture of Longwood A Romantic Exercise in Hubris HAROLD COOLEOOE Clemson University Hubris, as the Greeks defined it, was stubborn pride that incited action contrary to the will of the gods. Because the will of the gods was frequently hidden from men, one of the principal themes of Greek drama is the inexorable march to destruction of some tragic hero who had unknowingly contravened that will. In architecture, hubris may generally be characterized by three qualities, either singly or in conjunction: exaggerated scale (either large or small), unique design (for time and place), and exotic materials. In considering the physical design of Longwood (Figure 1) and the remarkable men responsible for its creation- the client Haller Nutt (1816-64), the architect Samuel Sloan (1815-84), and landscape designer and horticultural consultant Robert Buist (1805-80)- the theme of hubris provides a continuous thread as the construction of a stately mansion with enchanted gardens is pitted against the Civil War. The Client. Among the steamboat tourists viewing the estates on the upper Hudson River during the summer of 1859 was Dr. Haller Nutt of Natchez, Mississippi, who, with his wife and two eldest daughters, was making an extended trip through the northeastern United States and Canada. Nutt was planning to build his own mansion at a site near Natchez which already bore the name of Longwood. He had purchased the property in the autumn of 1850, intending to demolish the original house and build a truly palatial residence as a surprise for his wife. At the time of the Hudson River excursion, Nutt had not determined either the architect or the style for his new residence, but he was impressed by the romantic atmosphere of the revival houses overlooking the river and also by the practical advantages of an octagonal plan, much in evidence along the river's banks, for a residence in the deep south. Nutt could accept the expenses which the building of a private pleasure-dome would inevitably bring because, as one of the Natchez cotton millionaires, he had not been seriously hurt by the panic of 1857-58 which had brought an era of careless prosperity to a crashing end elsewhere. The taste and preferences which Haller Nutt evidenced in the building of Longwood were unusual for his time, place, and position in society. They were what a later generation would call 'advanced' and were the result of Haller's close association with his father, Dr. Rush Nutt, a romantic rationalist in the mold of Thomas Jefferson. Born in 1781 into ARRIS 3: 5-22. 1992 5 6 ARRIS 3. 1992 a prominent Virginia family, Rush Nutt studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin Rush at the University of Pennsylvania before spending two years on horseback exploring the western states and territories as far as the Mississippi River. Returning to Virginia to pack up the goods left to him by his father's will, Nutt moved to Greenville in the Mississippi Territory, where he practiced medicine and engaged in farming. His marriage to Eliza Ker, daughter of the territorial judge, produced at least seven children. The family moved to a plantation named Laurel Hill near Rodney in that region of Mississippi known as Gulf Hills because of the low sugar cane hills just east of the Petit Gulf in the River. Here he found himself among planters who had begun to practice scientific agriculture and plant breeding, particularly as these applied to cotton culture. Nutt applied his scientific mind to problems in agriculture, making significant contributions to the growing and processing of cotton. He refined the cotton gin and was the first to apply steam power in place of horse power for its operation.1 In 1833 and again in 1834-35, he made trips to Greece, Turkey, Syria, the Holy Land, and Egypt, probably with the intention of smuggling home Egyptian cotton seed to use in plant breeding. Subsequent writers on the history of cotton production in the United States have assumed that the famous hybrid which Rush Nutt developed was crossbred with Egyptian stock. "He had obtained seeds of a long staple black seed upland cotton...