Abstract

Abstract:

This article reinterprets the evolution of the country house in colonial Philadelphia. It focusses on Belmont, a villa pivotal for architecture and landscape in this evolution. Belmont’s owner, William Peters, also proves to have been a significant gentleman-amateur architect. Belmont marked a new phase in the villa’s evolution--a phase marked by increasing sophistication in architectural form, a different purpose, and a new attitude toward county living. This phase paralleled a political shift in which Proprietorial Anglicans such as Peters overtook the old Quaker hierarchy of the city. Belmont’s later history illustrates continuing changes in architectural style, landscaping, and manners.

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