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The stuccoed and "rusticated" exterior was a sophisticated selection by Ridgely. It
utilized texture, color and the detailed demarcation to simulate the construction features
of a European country house.
Although the house was reroofed with slate later in the 19th century, the original roof
was covered with "fish scale" shaped wood shingles. In addition, the roof is crowned by
a series of wooden urns of classical form, which define the projecting pediments and out-
side comers of the main block and cupola base.
The cupola, or "doom" as Captain Ridgely called it, is of massive proportions and gives
Hampton its special distinction. It also provides a sizeable chamber with an excellent
view of Hampton lands in all directions. The cupola's large sash windows are the key to
an ingenious and notably successful ventilation system. When the windows in the octag-
onal cupola are raised, the cupola draws the hot air in the house up and out of the lower
stories.
The eight dormers on the roof of the main block are highlighted by decorative
scrollwork and elegant "Gothick" muntins in the arched windows. "Muntins" are
pieces of wood which support the individual panes or 'lights" of glass in the window.
Elaborate fake windows with moulded wooden frames and painted glazing are
applied on the chimneys to create a "trompe 1'oeil" (trick to the eye) effect. Rustica-
tion can be seen in the pediments, at the base of the cupola, and on the inside walls of
the chimneys.
The north and south entrances, which directly oppose each other across the center
of the house, are known as "axial" entrances because they intersect the primary axis of
the house. There is no front or back door as we term them today. To the north, the car-
riage entrance opens to the heart-shaped carriage drive, and to the south the garden en-
trance gives access to the formal gardens.
Both entrances are protected by partially enclosed central pavilions or porticoes which
are highlighted by bold pilasters or columns supporting intricate pediments containing
Venetian windows. With a central, arched window and a narrow flatheaded window to
either side, these openings appear to be framed in stone, another example of rustication.
The side walls of the porticoes are also stuccoed stone and contain sash windows at both
first and second story levels, cross-ventilating the porticoes for use in the summer. The
second story porticoes were made practical with the inclusion of railings in Gothick Chip-
pendale style.
The portico steps on both the north and south sides were originally sandstone with
iron railings. In 1867, the Ridgelys replaced the north steps with marble ones with turned
balusters and railings, designed by E. G. Lind. As a complement, the plain wood floor
of the north portico was covered with black and white marble tiles.
Louvered doors originally supplemented the solid wood exterior doors at the north
and south entrances, both in the main block and in the hyphens and wings, permitting
cross-ventilation throughout the house during the warm season while still allowing the
family their privacy.
The doors are the standard panelled type typical of the 18th and early 19th century.
The portico doors are surrounded by elegant classical ornamentation in the Doric order.
The doors to the hyphens, on the other hand, are perfectly plain with only a row of fixed
lights, or transom, above.
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