Yeah, Big House, See, Yeah

[Patti Feinberg]

above was in my very best Eddie G. Robinson voice

Okay...if I'm not mistaken, the big house (Collinwood) is, what, made of stone/marble? The look (texture, color) of both the walls and floor in the entrance/foyer to me look as if made of stone (I don't want to say concrete, because I don't know if that's the right word or if there was concrete yet late 1700s colonies). Is this correct? If so, BLAH! I can't think of anywhere that it would be comfortable to live in 'stone'. It would be humid/soggy; it would be terribly cold (especially in a Maine coastal location). Shoot, I wouldn't want 'stone' in FL!

Also, if stone, does anyone architect. bless know how they would/did segue into the stairs? Are there 2x4's nailed to the walls in other rooms for the 'non-stone walls'? Well, hopefully this age old topic can !finally! be discussed

Patti

[AndreDuPres]

Every time someone mentions that Collinwood was built in 1795, I really have to suspend my disbelief.  That type of architecture was *so* not en vogue at that time!  Also, the Old House could not have been built in the mid-18th century, either...but, hey, if I can accept vampires, werewolves, Parallel Time, and the rest, I suppose I can accept historical discrepancies, too.  Back to your point...well, there's a lot of wood throughout Collinwood, too.  Notice the hallways and the rooms, particularly the drawing room, which is composed entirely out of wood.  Anyway, Collinwood would *never* get soggy:  it thunders, sure, but it never rains, nor does it snow!  Everything is completely warm even during the winter months.  Why else would Vicki run around in sleeveless Orbach gowns during December?

[MagnusTrask]

What about PT, where Collinwood was around in the 17th century?!    L Edmonds in flashbacks sitting in the drawing room in his pilgrim era getup is just ridiculous.

[Willie]

I think concrete has been around since the Roman Empire, so I suppose they could use that for construction.  Stone houses do tend to be very cold (stone is a terrible insulator), but there's always a fire burning in every room of Collinwood.  I think most of the interior walls would be built of wood, and actually if you put some insulation between the exterior stone wall and the interior wood wall, it could be quite comfortable.  That's how they do it in a lot of basements where the walls are concrete.

The odd thing, considering the Collins family is very rich, is that they don't seem to have central heating installed.  It's very common to install up-to-date heating and air conditioning in older houses, yet I've never seen a heat register or radiator anywhere.  I mean, there sure are plenty of secret passages that they could run the ductwork through 

[Willie]

Oops, I just looked it up, I guess portland cement has only been around since the mid 1800s.  But concrete was around since the 1700s.  There were other more primitive types of cement before then, even going back to ancient Egypt, but not the kind of stuff you'd want to use to construct a mansion like Collinwood.

[Mary Elizabeth]

speaking of houses, you can visit the website for Lyndhurst, the mansion used in the movies, it's www.lyndhurst.org
It is so very beautiful.
Then there is the Lockwood-Matthews mansion used for House of Dark Shadows. you can find it at www.lockwoodmatthewsmansion.org

Check out the websites, you won't be disappointed. Lyndhurst is my favorite!!!

[BuzzH]

What about PT, where Collinwood was around in the 17th century?!    L Edmonds in flashbacks sitting in the drawing room in his pilgrim era getup is just ridiculous.

Yes, I noticed this too, you're talking about the scenes where Brutus Collins was shown in flashbacks during 1841 PT, right?  I was like "Wait a second!  Collinwood was around THAT early in PT?"

[Charles_Ellis]

Well, they obviously goofed in having Collinwood exist in 1680PT, when in actuality it should've been either the Old House or an ever earlier structure (The OLD Old House?).  The Old House does reflect the Neoclassical or "Federal" style of architecture of the late 1700s, which borrowed from Greco-Roman designs.  At least that building could've been around for most of the 18th century- from what I've found out online, this style first became popular around 1750.  OK- let's give ten years- after all, in those days "the colonies"  would be the last to hear of the latest trends from Europe.  We can guess 1760-65 as a good date of the building of the Old House.  As the Collinses expanded in power, wealth and heirs, a new house was needed by 1780.  Remember the stores of all those secret rooms and tunnels being built at Collinwood for the use of covert missions/espionage, et cetera?  The Revolutionary War was still dragging on as the plans for Coillinwood were being built.  This also explains the secret tunnel in the Old House basement cell where Maggie made her escape from Barnabas in 1967.

The war and its aftermath probably delayed Joshua's efforts to build a new estate for a number of years until the actual construction began.  I'd say about 1787.  Why?  Well, the White House took eight years to build, and it would make sense for the conservative Joshua to wait until the political situation was stable.  In 1787 the U.S. Constitution was created, so it was a perfect time to create the future of the Collins dynasty.  Perhaps there was a conscious decision to stay away from the Neoclassical style for the new manor and go for a French style.  In real life Seaview Terrace was designed to resemble a French chateau.  As a newly minted American, Joshua wouldn't want anything English in the design of the house.  Since France was a valuable ally in the Revolution, it would make sense he would ape the look of an old chateau.  Whew- I'm done!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

We can guess 1760-65 as a good date of the building of the Old House.

Actually, your guess is a good one - but we don't need to guess because in Ep #605, while regaling Nicholas with the history of the house, Prof. Stokes reveals that the Old House was built in 1767 as a gift from Joshua to Naomi.

The Old House does reflect the Neoclassical or "Federal" style of architecture of the late 1700s, which borrowed from Greco-Roman designs.

As for the Old House reflecting the Neoclassical or the Classical Revival Style of architecture, that's partly true. The Spratt House (the real Old House) is actually in the Greek Revival Style and once again it's Stokes who refers to this (in Ep #475, during his hilarious first visit to the house when Barnabas wants to beg, borrow or buy an amulet for Dr. Lang to protect him from Cassandra's witchcraft) and that style grew out of Classical Revival. Greek Revival was its most popular between 1825 and 1860 - but Stokes conveniently covers that by saying that the Old House was constructed "before they got it right." 

Perhaps there was a conscious decision to stay away from the Neoclassical style for the new manor and go for a French style.  In real life Seaview Terrace was designed to resemble a French chateau.  As a newly minted American, Joshua wouldn't want anything English in the design of the house.  Since France was a valuable ally in the Revolution, it would make sense he would ape the look of an old chateau.

Well, remember that the original backstory of Collinwood on the daytime DS was that Jeremiah built it for Josette, so the fact that it's in the style of a French chateau made perfect sense (though, most interestingly, the backstory in Art Wallace's Shadows on the Wall describes Collinwood as having been "designed in the style of an English Manor House"). And as I've posted before, once Seaview was already established as Collinwood, even though they subsequently changed the house's backstory, they couldn't very well switch to a completely different house. 

Anyone who might like to get deeper into the whole what style of architecture would actually have been appropriate for Collinwood issue and who might have missed it the first time around might want to check out "My Dream Collinwood (or would we really want "purely American" 1790s architecture?)" via the link below:

...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

What about PT, where Collinwood was around in the 17th century?!    L Edmonds in flashbacks sitting in the drawing room in his pilgrim era getup is just ridiculous.

It may not be as ridiculous as it might at first appear because, remember, things are different in PT. Who's to say that Collinwood's style of architecture wasn't already popular in PT's 17th century New England?  The PT styles of architecture, fashion, or whatever can't actually be judged solely by our own RT standards.

[Patti Feinberg]

Well, remember that the original backstory of Collinwood on the daytime DS was that Jeremiah built it for Josette

Hmm...I didn't know this oh Great Mysterious Benefactor

Patti

[MagnusTrask]

During the Brutus flashbacks I always wonder, were there even many Europeans in Maine then?     I imagine this wood-panelled mansion sitting there in the wilderness with Indian tribes roaming around outside, or something... perhaps wondering what this monstrosity in the woods is, and how it came to be there.      I know this probably wasn't quite true, but we are going way back in time.     Maine was an out of the way place at this point wasn't it?     I don't imagine it being settled as rapidly as elsewhere.

[PennyDreadful]

It may not be as ridiculous as it might at first appear because, remember, things are different in PT.

 Exactly.  We have no idea how history, styles, architecture etc unfolded in Parallel Time. 

  I'd say that even in the regular time band, Collinsport is not strictly bound by things like time-appropriate architecture.  Collinsport is a weird place, and things there aren't exactly the same as they are everywhere else.

[michael c]

both collinwood and the old house looked exactly like what they really were.gilded age mansions built by the robber barons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.houses of that size simply were not built in this country before this period.in this they took great liberties.

i'm not an expert on architecture but collinwood doesn't remotely resemble the french chateau.to me it does read much more of the 'english manor house' both inside and out.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

i'm not an expert on architecture but collinwood doesn't remotely resemble the french chateau.to me it does read much more of the 'english manor house' both inside and out.

Much of the literature surrounding Seaview (including the articles in both versions of the DS Almanac) mentions that the architect who designed the house (Howard Greenley) patterned it after an actual French chateau of the Renaissance period. Unfortunately, though, nothing that I've ever come across mentions the name/location of the actual house it was patterned after, which is a bummer because I would love to compare the two.

It's also probably worth noting that the actual interiors of the house look nothing like the DS sets.