Longwood

140 Lower Woodville Road, circa 1860. Planned in 1859 for planter Haller Nutt and his wife, Julia, by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan, construction began in 1860. Using the octogan form with four main floors, the fifth-story solarium and sixth-story observatory, the home was designed to have 32 rooms, each with its own entrance unto a balcony. Inside, the great rotunda was open to the sixth floors above and was to provide light and ventilation. In April 1861, when war was declared all of the craftsmen from the north fled to their homes and never returned. The 9,500 square-foot basement level was completed and converted into living quarters and generations of the Nutt family resided there until 1968. Still unfinished, Longwood is maintained by the Pilgrimage Garden Club.