Architectural Styles

The architectural form of the McDonald Mansion can be described as a adaptation of a raised Southern Cottage, designed with a single main living level over an above ground basement intended as a flood precaution. The second story is an attic level with sloping ceilings and dormer windows in the bedrooms. The McDonalds called their home Mableton in homage to the childhood Mississippi River plantation of Ralphine North McDonald. A signature design feature is its use of flat sawn and cut-out wood ornament characteristic of Stick and Eastlake styles in vogue during that time. The passion for ornament and individualism combined with the thriving lumber industry was to lead to the creation of a less common, but highly decorated style of wooden architecture. This style was not named until Vincent Scully called attention to it in the 1950s, the Stick Style flourished from about the 1860 to 1890, featured angular and rectilinear patterns of boards used as ornamentation on the exterior of the house.

(prior to restoration)

The Stick Style grew from the "Picturesque Gothic" style first popularized by A.J. Davis and A. J. Downing in such publications as Davis' "Rural Residences" of 1837 and Downing's 1850 publication "The Architecture of Country Houses", and was further developed in the pattern books of the 1860s and 1870s. The invention of the ballooned frame and the steam-powered scrool saw made wood the preferred material of construction, especially as lumber was in plentiful supply in many areas and was both cheaper and less difficult to work with than stone. As a style it is generally considered to be a linking development between the Gothic Revival and Queen Anne, while all three styles ultimately have their roots in the Medieval English domestic architecture.

The Eastlake Style was named after Charles Lock Eastlake (1836-1906). Charles Eastlake studied under the prominent painter Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, his name sake and uncle. He continued his studies at the Royal Academy in London. He (during restoration)
wrote "Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and other Details", published 1868. Using aesthetic reasoning to decry the excesses on nineteenth century taste in favor of a more robust, straightforward style. The book was particularly welcomed in the United States where his aesthetic direction was popularly labeled the Eastlake Style. Eastlake followed with another book "A History of the Gothic Revival", published in 1872. He served as assistant secretary on the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1866 and as a keeper at the National Gallery (reference book "The Houses We Live In, Jeffery Howe, PRC Publishing LTD., 2002).


Enjoy your surrounding,
McDonald Mansion Martin