Nottoway Plantation - Building An American Castle

Building An American Castle

John Randolph began to compile the materials for his castle in 1855. Cypress grown at Forest Home was cut and cured under water for four years. The cypress, then cut into planks and dried, was called virgin cypress. Perhaps its most notable feature was not its durability, but its resistance to termites. Meanwhile, handmade bricks were baked in kilns by the slaves, and the renowned architect Henry Howard of New Orleans was charged with the task of designing the grand mansion.

Randolph made it clear from the outset that no expense would be spared in the construction. In fact, the hiring of Howard was the first of many signs of the opulence to come. Howard, a very popular architect of the time, is considered one of the greatest architects of New Orleans in the 1800s. Many of his Greek Revival and Italianate style buildings, churches and homes can be found throughout New Orleans today. He also designed the neighboring Belle Grove, now destroyed. Randolph and the master of Belle Grove, John Andrews, are known to have had a rivalry of sorts that even extended to their homes.

Construction of Nottoway was completed in 1859 at an estimated $80,000. Designed in the Greek Revival and Italianate style for which Howard was renowned, its most unique room is a semi-circular white ballroom with Corinthian columns and hand-cast archways.

The home consists of 53,000 square feet (4,900 m2) of living area. It has 365 openings, one for each day of the year. The house was carpeted in 1858 for $3,800 by Timothy Joyce. Mr. Randolph then hired a skilled mason, Newton Richards who furnished two huge flights of granite steps for the front of the home. These steps were built with the left side intended for the ladies, and right side for the men. The steps for the men can also be identified by the boot scraper at the bottom. This was so that the men would not see the women’s ankles, which was considered a severe breach of etiquette at the time.

During the Civil War, Mr Randolph would also take 200 slaves to Texas and grow cotton there.