The Warmth and Charm in Georgian Architecture

In a very attractive Georgian mansion, the stone mason will not just simply lay up the stone helter-skelter, but select large stones for the corners known as quoins. The 1808 Spang, 1805 Hunter, and 1815 Reiff mansions of the Oley Valley have fine quoins in their corners that make the structures imposing, as many others. Although most keystones, another feature if Georgian architecture, are in wood, there are a few mansions in the area with stone lintels and stone keystones. When considering early American style in furniture, as well as architecture, it is the simplicity of the form together with the harmony of the materials utilized that create the masterpiece that is the warmth and charm of Georgian architecture.

Among the early American architectural forms which abound in the East Penn Valley of Pennsylvania, the smartly designed Georgian Mansions are pleasant works of art in a rural setting. These mansions were built for the most part by the landed gentry in the early 19th Century and reflect the wealth of the agrarian society in the Valley. Although some Georgian mansions were the residences of early Iron masters, many others were manor houses for prosperous farm gentry. Since the Georgianstyle of architecture was in fashion in Philadelphia during the last half of the 18th century, it did not take long for it to be brought to the Oley countryside.

These pioneer families, who came to America and settled in the wilderness of the Oley Valley in the mid-18th Century, had enough wealth by the beginning of the 19th Century to built impressive homes that matched the landed aristocracy anywhere in the Nation. The hallmark of a Georgian mansion is its keystones (placed over windows) and a central architectural doorway whereby an equal number of windows and wall space are balanced on either side of it. It is the symmetry of the facade, which accented by the keystones in relief, that created an imposing structure of some grandeur. In actuality though, a Georgian mansion was not generally a huge building, but its details which can be quite ornate at times magnify its size.

Often the second floor shutters of a mansion are painted a different color, especially a dark one, that creates an elongated illusion that the facade is much longer than it is in reality. The simplicity of the keystone crowned window lintels allows attention to be focused on the stylish doorway-the only unit of the facade that is different from the other nine windows. Some Georgian doorways have arches where intricate fanlights are located to admit light into the interior hallway. Paneled door jambs provide a further depth of beauty to the doorway, and ideally, the door should be a traditional Cross and Bible raised panel door.

Mansions did not have large cooking kitchens, and the kitchen was usually located in a small wing extending at the back of the house. In some instances, the large kitchen wing did not adjoin the mansion structure but there was a breezeway between the two. Or only the roof of the kitchen extended toward the mansion to provide shelter for members of the household going to and from. The reason that the kitchen was not directly part of the mansion may have been because of the fire hazard associated with it, but then, too, in the wealthier households the slaves were quartered in the kitchen and the mansion proper was off limits.

Among the early American architectural forms which abound in the East Penn Valley of Pennsylvania, the smartly designed Georgian Mansions are pleasant works of art in a rural setting.