Famous Colonial Houses by Paul M. Hollister, published in 1921, is a rich and evocative exploration of twelve historic American residences that played pivotal roles in the nation's formative years. Illustrated by James Preston and introduced by Julian Street, the book blends architectural appreciation with biographical and historical anecdotes, painting a vivid portrait of early American life, patriotism, and domestic design. The volume opens with Monticello, the architectural masterpiece conceived, designed, and painstakingly built by Thomas Jefferson over three decades atop his beloved little mountain in Virginia.
Hollister details Jefferson's ingenious blending of classical Palladian simplicity with practical American comfort, from the octagonal drawing-room and hidden staircases to the subterranean complex of kitchens, storerooms, and workshops. The narrative then shifts to New Orleans, examining the infamous Haunted House on Hospital and Royal Streets, linked to the chilling legends of Madame Lalaurie, whose cruelty toward her slaves sparked a violent public uprising in 1834. Moving to Maryland, the book explores Doughoregan Manor, the sprawling estate of the Carroll family, immortalized by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the wealthiest signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The estate features America's only private Catholic chapel and preserves the rich legacy of a patrician family deeply intertwined with the birth of the republic. In New York, the Jumel Mansion stands on the highest point of Manhattan, a lonely architectural anachronism that witnessed the footsteps of Washington and Heath, and later became the eccentric domain of the ambitious and controversial Madame Jumel, whose tumultuous life ranged from humble beginnings in Providence to European royalty and high-society isolation. The journey continues to Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia, capturing the domestic and agricultural passions of George Washington. Hollister paints an intimate portrait of the first president as an industrious planter, innovator, and meticulous manager who found his truest happiness in the graceful stewardship of his Potomac estate rather than the tumult of public office.
In Massachusetts, the Quincy Homestead in Braintree unfolds centuries of New England heritage, tracing the illustrious lineage of the Quincy, Adams, and Hancock families, including the spirited romance of Dorothy Quincy and John Hancock against the backdrop of the impending Revolution. The Timothy Dexter Mansion in Newburyport, Massachusetts, introduces a delightfully eccentric chapter focusing on Lord Timothy Dexter, the self-made eccentric whose immense wealth from speculative gambings funded a bizarre garden populated by wooden statues of world leaders, a personal poet laureate, and unmatched architectural ostentations. Returning to the Hudson River valley, the Kendall House in Dobbs Ferry, New York—known historically as the Livingston Mansion—takes center stage as the vital birthplace of victory, where Washington and Rochambeau planned the decisive Yorktown campaign and where the formal British evacuation documents were signed.
In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Longfellow House stands as a sunlit yellow citadel that served as Washington's headquarters before evolving into the beloved home of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, hosting luminaries like Emerson, Sumner, and Hawthorne. Cliveden in Germantown, Pennsylvania, recalls the fierce military clash of the American Revolution, detailing the historic stone house that served as a makeshift fort for British troops during the bitter fog of the Battle of Germantown, scarring its walls with shot and shell while preserving the elegant legacy of the Chew family. The Wentworth Mansion in Little Harbor, New Hampshire, evokes the robust political and commercial life of the provincial governors, highlighted by the colorful governorship of Benning Wentworth and his romantic marriage to Martha Hilton.
