Arlington, Federal plantation house in Natchez, US.
Arlington is a Federal style red brick house of two full stories above a low basement, its main block measuring 64 by 87 feet. The five-bay front facade has a tetrastyle portico of four monumental Doric columns, and doorways are trimmed with radiating brick voussoirs, marble imposts and keystones. A central hall plan divides each level into two rooms per side, with a stair hall to the east.
Construction of Arlington is thought to date to about 1819–20, though the start date is uncertain; its design has been attributed to John Hampton White without documentation. John Hampton White died of yellow fever on October 15, 1819, and Jane Surget White was found dead in her bed on July 1, 1825, the morning after a ball celebrating the house's completion. The property later passed to S. S. Boyd and his descendants.
Jane Surget White, daughter of French émigré Pierre Surget, died on July 1, 1825, the morning after a ball held to celebrate the house's completion; the cause is unknown, and folklore ranges from a stabbing to indigestion. The story still shapes how the house is told locally.
Arlington stands on a 55-acre property with three contributing buildings, about 150 feet from the rear courtyard to a two-story barn, past a geometric boxwood garden. The main house is a private residence damaged by the 2002 fire and later vandalism, so interior access is not assured; view the brick exterior and grounds from public roads.
This mansion is one of only four influential Federal Style villas that shaped the architectural patterns of houses in antebellum Natchez. This select group of four structures established a regional building tradition that influenced construction throughout the period.
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