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in thorough detail. Copious accounts for each phase including costs, materials, descrip-
tion of work and, in many cases, the names of the workmen, indicate the progress and
the character of the building. Contemporary ledger books also contain entries for room
and board, supplies ordered for individual needs, and fascinating references to shoes made,
clothing ordered, and liquor consumed.
In August 1783, Captain Ridgely contracted with the carpentry firm of Jehu Howell
and William Richardson as follows: "Howell and Richardson old Accts for work in
(Patapsco) Neck settled but my work on my house now bildg in the forrest (Hampton)
is to be (built) at the same prices Except % to be Deducted for Board and in the Neck
their (sic) was % Deducted for Board." The cellars and stone work were begun in 1783
and by November 1784, the central block of the main house and the two wings were un-
der construction and their roofs were being put on. Later entries describe the cupola,
constructed in 1787 at a cost of 180 pounds for the carpentry work; sixteen scrolls for
the sides of the dormer windows; pedestals for urns; urns to ornament the roof line; and
"venision" (Venetian or Palladian) windows.
Exterior
The vigorous exterior design selected by Charles Ridgely conforms to the Georgian
formula for classical detail and balanced effect: rigid symmetry, five-part composition,
axial entrances, geometric proportions, pedimented gable ends and sash windows.
Andrea Palladio, a 16th century Italian architect and author of / Quattro Libri dell
'Architettura (The Four Books of Architecture) influenced architecture for more than
200 years. The 18th century translations of his works and the Palladio-designed build-
ings studied in Italy by Thomas Jefferson and other travellers created a particular style
in England and America, often called Palladian. These classically inspired Palladian
ideas are evident at Hampton, although the lack of a formally-trained architect can be
seen in the somewhat heavy and non-academic treatment of the design.
The external appearance of the house is generally more suited to a public building or
a monument than to an American residence of the period, and the Mansion would have
looked even more imposing and magnificent when first completed in 1790, stark and
unadorned at the top of the hill. Visitors of 1790 would have seen it without the large
specimen trees which were planted in the mid-19th century and without the encroach-
ing suburbs of today.
The exterior of the Mansion is constructed of common rough gneiss schist stone
quarried in the area. The stone walls are covered with stucco: a mixture of sand, lime,
animal hair and water. The use of stucco was characteristic of Palladio's designs, but
an unusual approach locally. Most great Georgian houses in Maryland have brick
exteriors.
The color of the Mansion, pinkish terracotta, is not paint, but a reflection of the local
iron bearing sand used to mix the stucco. The gray base, which shows indications of white
paint lines, was colored by grinding charcoal into the stucco mixture. Originally, the white
lines were used over the entire exterior to make the Mansion appear to be built of ashlar
or precisely cut stones. "Rustication," a decorative treatment using raised wooden blocks
shaped to look like cut stone, was also applied.
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