The mansion is known for its octagonal plan, byzantineonion-shapeddome,[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 planterHaller 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 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.
^"Mississippi Landmarks"(PDF). Mississippi Department of Archives and History. May 2008. Archived from the original(PDF) on October 9, 2010. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
^ ab"Longwood". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
^ abKristin Reichardt Kirwan (July 2007). "Echoes of an Era". Decor & Style Magazine. The most fascinating house in Natchez … is the ghostly masterpiece of Longwood. The home was to include architectural features that were ahead of their time: The exterior double walls were 27 inches thick with a 5-inch air space to leave room for sliding glass windows to provide maximum ventilation. Running water was to have been brought into the house via pipes connected to the dome on the roof, in which rainwater could be stored.
^Natchez Mansions. "Longwood". Archived from the original on July 14, 2003. Retrieved July 24, 2007. Longwood in its unfinished state illustrates the impact of the Civil War on the economy of the South.
