For more on The Mount, see the first post in this series. This post is available as a video at https://youtu.be/LubSvEROliY.
Ground floor & stairs
This is the side of the house facing the drive. According to Wikipedia, the exterior of The Mount was inspired by Belton House, a 17th-century English mansion in the Carolean (a.k.a. Restoration) style.
Maps of ground floor and main floor.
The entrance hall has a real MacMonnies sculpture! That made two MacMonnies works I saw in 2 days: Naumkeag has a very large one in the Afternoon Garden. (MacMonnies is one of the three artists covered in Artist-Entrepreneurs.)
Stairs from the entrance hall to the main floor, with a lovely wrought-iron railing. The house was electrified when built, and had an elevator; but the elevator was generally only used for luggage.
I should have asked about these paintings: they look as if they’re attached to the wall. What if you wanted to rearrange them?
The Gallery on the main floor, looking toward Teddy Wharton’s study. The docent pointed out that the Whartons weren’t as wealthy as the Morgans, Vanderbilts, and others, so they made some compromises. For example, the floor is not slabs of marble, but marble chips in a concrete base. It looks great and has worn very well.
The quote on this poster is from The Decoration of Houses, which Wharton co-authored: “We have to make things beautiful; they do not grow so of themselves.”
Window on the main floor with a view over the carriage drive. If you open the windows and doors, there’s a cross-breeze from the gallery clear across to the veranda.
Next week: more of the main floor.
More
- Back in the summer of 2020, when most museums were still in lockdown or requiring masks, I discovered the pleasures of spending time in elaborate, exquisitely planned gardens. My first excursion was to the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, where I visited the Gilded Age mansions of Naumkeag, Ventfort, and The Mount. Ventfort photos are here and here. Naumkeag is in 4 parts, beginning here.
- For more Gilded Mansions and their gardens, click this tag.
- Want wonderful art delivered weekly to your inbox? Check out my Sunday Recommendations list and rewards for recurring support: details here. For examples of favorite recommendations from past years, click here.