| Moorish Architecture |
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| Longwood (Nutt's Folly) |
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| Inside of Unfinished Dome - Longwood |
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| Iranistan - Library of Congress |
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| Olana - Library of Congress |
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| Castle Warden |
| Moorish Architecture is a style of architecture common in Spain from the 13th to the 16th centuries characterized by horseshoe-shaped arches.
In the United States, Washington Irving's travel sketch, Alhambra (1832) first brought Moorish Andalusia into readers' imaginations; one of the first neo-Moorish structures was Iranistan, a mansion of P. T. Barnum in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Constructed in 1848 and demolished by fire ten years later, this architectural extravaganza "sprouted bulbous domes and horseshoe arches". Iranistan Barnum said that in visiting Brighton, England, he had been greatly pleased with the pavilion built there by George IV. George IV, had ordered John Nash, the architect, to give his residence on the south coast - Brighton Pavilion - "an Eastern character." This, described by Nash as "the Hindoo style of architecture." It was at that time the only specimen of Oriental architecture in England, and the style had not been introduced into America. "I concluded to adopt it, and engaged a London architect to furnish me a set of drawings after the general plan of the pavilion, differing sufficiently to be adapted to the spot of ground selected for my homestead. On my second return visit to the United States, I brought these drawings with me and engaged a competent architect and builder, giving him instructions to proceed with the work, not 'by the job' but 'by the day,' and to spare neither time nor expense in erecting a comfortable, convenient, and tasteful residence. |
| Longwood (Nutt's Folly), Natchez Mississippi
Longwood is the largest octagon house in the world.The house was started in 1859 by Dr. Haller Nutt.The design of the house was created by a Philadelphia architect named Samuel Sloan and it resembled an eight-sided castle. It also has a sixteen-sided cupola on the top with an onion-shaped dome. It was designed to be six stories tall and made of brick, marble and plaster with eight rooms on each floor, surrounding a rotunda. The construction on the house continued through 1860 but came to a halt the following spring when the Civil War broke out. Sloan and his workers returned home to fight for the Union, leaving Nutt's home far from complete.... which is exactly how it still stands today. Locals dubbed the house "Nutt's Folly." |
| Olana
Named for a fortress treasure-house in ancient Persia, Olana was the home of Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900) a student of Thomas Cole, and major figure in the Hudson River School of landscape painting. Olana was built high on a hill near Hudson, New York between 1870 and 1891. |
| Olana - Library of Congress |
| Joseph Jefferson House, New Iberia, La
The 1870s home reflects Moorish, Steamboat Gothic, French and Southern plantation architectural styles. The dinning room is a tribute to Moorish style. The house was designed by Jefferson and George Francis an architect. Joe Jefferson was a famous actor of the 19th century best known for portraying Rip Van Winkle from Washington Irving. |
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| Castle Warden
1888 St. Augustine home built by William Warden a Standard Oil compatriot of Henry Flagler. Home is now the first Ripley's Believe it or Not. |
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| Villa Zoryada
St. Augustine's original contribution to Moorish design built by Franklin Smith as a model of the Alhambra after Washington Irving's description. In 1883 he built Villa Zoryada using concrete mixed with coquina. While not the first concrete houses built in the United States it was one of the first and the mixture with coquina gives it a St. Augustine look that compares with the Castillo de San Marco (the old Spanish fort). |
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| St. Augustine has several other Moorish houses dating into the Moorish revival of the 1890s. This house is located on the Bay Front. |
| Opa-Locka
In the mid-1920s, developer Glen Curtiss bought land north of Miami and built an entire city of Moorish buildings. Under Curtiss' plan, nearly every building in Opa-locka, Fla., had a dome and minaret. It became known as "the Baghdad of the South" and "the Baghdad of Florida." |
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| Opa-Locka City Hall |
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| Alhambra |
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| St. Augustine's Flagler Hotels - Ponce de Leon, Alcazar and Franklin Smith's Casa Monica continue the Moorish Archtecture on a grand scale. These hotels introduced America to the Moorish Archtecture starting in the 1880s. The term that the hotels would use was Spanish archtecture in keeping with the historical traditions of St. Augustine. |
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| Alcazar Courtyard |
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| Ponce de Leon - Courtyard |
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| Casa Monica |
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| Villa Flora - St. Augustine built by a Baptist minister in the 1890s. Home to Sisters of St. Joseph today. |
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| Tampa Hotel by Henry Plant The hotel was built in 1891 by Henry Plant in Tampa, Florida. With 511 rooms it was built of concrete. Today, it's the Henry Plant Museum. |