Longwood, Natchez – (1860-62) (National Historic Landmark). Longwood, also known as Nutt’s Folly, really needs no introduction. To quote Mills Lane, Longwood is “the largest and most spectacular octagonal house in America.” Imagine what Lane would have thought if Longwood had been finished. Haller Nutt, one of the wealthiest men in America, commissioned Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan to design Longwood after seeing Design XLIX “An Oriental Villa” in Sloan’s The Model Architect. Sloan drew up the plans for Longwood and made two trips to the site in 1860, after which Sloan’s future architectural partner Addison Hutton supervised construction and Natchez builder/architect Andrew Brown supplied the 200,000 feet of lumber and lathing. Sloan’s Philadelphian craftsmen continued construction after Mississippi’s secession, but eventually left in September 1861. Nutt’s slaves completed the basement in 1862, but the rest of Longwood remains incomplete today. Yet, Longwood is still the most extravagant structure ever constructed in Mississippi’s history.

Longwood, looking up into dome