Longwood (Natchez, Mississippi)

Longwood, also known as Nutt's Folly, is a historic antebellum octagonal mansion located at 140 Lower Woodville Road in Natchez, Mississippi, United States. Built in part by enslaved people,^[4][5] the mansion is on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, and is a National Historic Landmark.^[2][6] Longwood is the largest octagonal house in the United States.^[7]

Longwood
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
Mississippi Landmark
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Interactive map showing the location of Longwood
Location	140 Lower Woodville Road, Natchez, Mississippi
Coordinates	31°32′12″N 91°24′17″W
Built	1859-ca. 1864
Architect	Samuel Sloan
Architectural style	Octagon Mode, Italian Villa
NRHP reference No.	69000079
USMS No.	001-NAT-4016-NHL-ML
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 16, 1969[1]
Designated NHL	December 16, 1969[2]
Designated USMS	November 29, 1994[3]

Description and history

The mansion is known for its octagonal plan, byzantine onion-shaped dome,^[5] and the contrast between its ornately finished first floor and the unfinished upper floors.

The inspiration for Longwood: Sloan's "Oriental Villa" as it appeared in his 1852 book, The Model Architect

Samuel Sloan, a Philadelphia architect, designed the home in 1859 for cotton planter Haller Nutt.^[8] Work was halted in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War. Nutt died of pneumonia in 1864, leaving the work incomplete. Of the 32 rooms planned for the house, only nine rooms on the basement floor were completed.

Haller Nutt's never-finished Natchez home, Longwood, was the last burst of Southern opulence before war and the federal ban on enslaving people brought the cotton barons' dominance to an end. Longwood survived decades of neglect and near-abandonment to become one of Natchez' most popular attractions.^[9]

Longwood is owned and operated as a historic house museum by the Pilgrimage Garden Club; it is also available for rent.^[10]

In popular culture

Longwood was featured in the Southern United States segment of Guide to Historic Homes of America,^[11] an in-depth production by Bob Vila for the A&E Network.

In 2010, Longwood was used in the HBO series True Blood, for the external shots of the fictional Jackson, Mississippi, mansion of Russell Edgington, the Vampire King of Mississippi and Louisiana.

See also

• List of National Historic Landmarks in Mississippi
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Adams County, Mississippi