Brian, there is a 'surreality' to the whole Whitemarsh Hall story, and yes
it is "hard to know where to begin." It appears that Summer 1977 was the
last time I saw Whitemarsh Hall. This past Christmas I visited with a former
architecture classmate who now lives in Canada. Doug saw Whitemarsh Hall at
Quondam and told me that I took him there. Oddly, I have no recollection of
our going there, and I even told Doug that it was probably Steve Devlin
(another architecture classmate who also knew of Stotesbury, as he then
lived in the neighboring suburb of Lafayette Hill, indeed named for Gen.
Lafayette who was very active in the local hills during the Revolutionary
War) who took him there. Doug wasn't convinced, and a month later it dawned
on me that Doug and I had worked together the Summer of 1977 for C. William
Fox Architect in Chestnut Hill, and that was most likely when Doug and I
went to see Whitemarsh Hall.
Exactly 20 years later, sometime in 1997, was the next time I again saw
Whitemarsh Hall, but this time it was on the internet at the Serianni
website, and that's how most others now also see the place, very much in the
virtual realm. It was probably in 2000 that I first returned to the quondam
palace site. Initially, it was thrilling to find the columns again, but the
thrill quickly changed to something like disorienting because everything
else I was also seeing (ie the new housing development) had no place at all
in my memories. Essentially, the whole place was now something completely,
completely different. It's even hard for me to explain, and perhaps that's
why I more than ever want to see my old movies of Whitemarsh Hall--I haven't
had a working projector in almost 20 years.
Maybe Whitemarsh Hall now manifests a somewhat new type of archaeology,
where it's not just layers of earth that must be sifted through, rather
layers of memory. All the same, it's still treasure hunting (which is most
likely the progenitor of all archaeology).
If "Versailles, sigh" can claim any success (as a virtual conference paper)
it is because of the new aerial images of the former Stotesbury
Estate--thanks John! The aerial images available just a few years ago were
not close enough and more blurs than anything. The detail of the present set
of aerials is what really brought the "Stotesbury" story literally into
focus.
[Yesterday, I thought of a new art project for myself. Once Spring sets in,
I'm gonna go back to Stotesbury, and take the forecourt baluster and
bathroom marble slabs with me. Then, as best I can, I'll place the artifacts
in there quondam positions. And then I'll take pictures. The piece will be
called I'VE NEVER SEEN THE ELGIN MARBLES, BUT...]
it is "hard to know where to begin." It appears that Summer 1977 was the
last time I saw Whitemarsh Hall. This past Christmas I visited with a former
architecture classmate who now lives in Canada. Doug saw Whitemarsh Hall at
Quondam and told me that I took him there. Oddly, I have no recollection of
our going there, and I even told Doug that it was probably Steve Devlin
(another architecture classmate who also knew of Stotesbury, as he then
lived in the neighboring suburb of Lafayette Hill, indeed named for Gen.
Lafayette who was very active in the local hills during the Revolutionary
War) who took him there. Doug wasn't convinced, and a month later it dawned
on me that Doug and I had worked together the Summer of 1977 for C. William
Fox Architect in Chestnut Hill, and that was most likely when Doug and I
went to see Whitemarsh Hall.
Exactly 20 years later, sometime in 1997, was the next time I again saw
Whitemarsh Hall, but this time it was on the internet at the Serianni
website, and that's how most others now also see the place, very much in the
virtual realm. It was probably in 2000 that I first returned to the quondam
palace site. Initially, it was thrilling to find the columns again, but the
thrill quickly changed to something like disorienting because everything
else I was also seeing (ie the new housing development) had no place at all
in my memories. Essentially, the whole place was now something completely,
completely different. It's even hard for me to explain, and perhaps that's
why I more than ever want to see my old movies of Whitemarsh Hall--I haven't
had a working projector in almost 20 years.
Maybe Whitemarsh Hall now manifests a somewhat new type of archaeology,
where it's not just layers of earth that must be sifted through, rather
layers of memory. All the same, it's still treasure hunting (which is most
likely the progenitor of all archaeology).
If "Versailles, sigh" can claim any success (as a virtual conference paper)
it is because of the new aerial images of the former Stotesbury
Estate--thanks John! The aerial images available just a few years ago were
not close enough and more blurs than anything. The detail of the present set
of aerials is what really brought the "Stotesbury" story literally into
focus.
[Yesterday, I thought of a new art project for myself. Once Spring sets in,
I'm gonna go back to Stotesbury, and take the forecourt baluster and
bathroom marble slabs with me. Then, as best I can, I'll place the artifacts
in there quondam positions. And then I'll take pictures. The piece will be
called I'VE NEVER SEEN THE ELGIN MARBLES, BUT...]