America's Finest Palladian Mansion: Inside Drayton Hall

Beauty will result from the form and the correspondence of the whole. Hi everyone, Ken here. Welcome to this house. The Palladian style of architecture, named after the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, emerged during the Renaissance period in Italy and is distinguished by its symmetrical facades, classical motifs, and emphasis on proportion and harmony, drawing inspiration from ancient Roman architectural principles. Particularly, as articulated in his seminal work, The Four Books of Architecture, Palladio sought a harmonious blend between nature and built form, often employing columns, pediments, and porticos in his designs. This aesthetic found profound resonance across 18th century Europe as well as in the New World. Completed by the early 1750s in Charleston, South Carolina, there is perhaps one of America's best remaining examples of Palladian residential architecture. Drayton Hall, named after the Drayton family which called this grand estate home for seven generations, encapsulates the Palladian style not only on its exterior, but within its exquisite interior. Before we enter the mansion, let's take a look at some of its drawings, noting how each room is anchored to the first floor's great hall. Furthermore, in this section, we can see how carefully proportioned each room is, following a strict grid not only for its layout, but for its decorative elements as well. When exploring a grand manor, there is no better place to start than the entrance itself. Arriving at the threshold, we can look up to see layers of ornate molding framing the double doors. Upon entering, there is a rapid expansion of space, as the ceiling soars two stories overhead, with a grand double staircase gracing the painted paneled walls. No surface is left unadorned, from hand-laid null posts to intricate carvings decorating the risers. We can imagine how grand the Draytons must have appeared, standing at the balcony, framed by an elaborate classically styled door surround, as guests arrive through the front door looking up towards them. From here we can continue from the stair hall into the great hall, where we are met by exquisitely carved wood paneling. In this historic photo of the room, we can more accurately visualize just how little has been eroded by time. Even with fading paint and cracked plasterwork, the timeless, unrelenting beauty of the room's classically styled and mathematically proportioned elements persists. The windows, with their deep sills, are framed by fluted plasters with egg and dart molding in their capitals. And of the window surrounds that are still intact, we find festoons, rosettes, and various tiny details in the woodwork reflecting the natural fauna just beyond the glass panes. If we take the passage just to the left of the grand fireplace, we will find the Ionic room. This room, which served as a parlor, was aptly named for its strict adherence to the classically inspired Ionic order. Each of the plasters in this room are topped with Ionic capitals, which flare out at a slight angle before scrolling back in on themselves. We find a pair of enlarged, but mathematically similar scrolls composing the broken pediment on the fireplace's upper mantle. Let's take a step back once again to appreciate the symphony of these tiny details coming together to create a beautiful space. Traveling back into the great hall, we will hook around the fireplace to find the library glowing in the afternoon sun. While the design of the wall panels is cohesive with the adjoining rooms, all of the distractions of intricate detailing have been phased out so that only a single decorative band of egg and dart molding continues across the wood-paneled walls. This simplicity in the library goes in line with a philosophy tied to the Palladian style, remembering the primary purpose of the room is for reading, writing, and thinking, and should not impose distractions. Cutting across the great hall diagonally, we will find the dining room through the passage on the right. For the first time, we are seeing red introduced into the paint scheme, with creamy, off-white paneling which is further tied together by the pigment found within the fireplace's marble surround. Just behind the dining room's fireplace, the first floor chamber mirrors its color scheme, with different, complementing decorative elements. The room also includes access to the great hall and to the back porch. We can make our way down the stairs to see the basement, where we can swing open the wrought iron gate and proceed beneath the porch to enter the basement. Here we can gain a sense of how simple the construction of the house truly is, with a series of brick arches supporting the walls all the way up to the roof. While this is where many grand manor houses would have had their kitchens, Trayton Hall was originally larger. In 1890, it was photographed with two flanking buildings, one of which housed the kitchen. While these may be long gone, much of the house's auxiliary components continue to exist. An earthen mound marks the center of a drive where carriages would circulate about as people came and went. More clues as to the lifestyle of the inhabitants have been left behind, such as a brick well where the family could have procured clean drinking water. And you may have noticed the lack of bathrooms in the floor plan. The family had a privy built outside of the house. It was about as luxurious as it could be for the time, with a functioning fireplace and a large window to let in ample sunlight. While looking around the property, viewing the marshes under the wispy branches of ancient trees, Trayton Hall, fully embracing the Palladian style, harmoniously rests, proportionate to and influenced by, its natural surrounding. As we toured the house, did you have a favorite room or architectural feature? Let me know down below in the comment section, and while you're there, make sure to hit the subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of This House. I would also like to take a moment to say a very special thank you to our This House supporters whose names you can see on screen right now. If you would like to see your name on the screen and show your support for the production of these videos, join our membership program today! I'll see you next time on This House.