Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage
Suit, Samuel Taylor, Cottage | |
 | |
   | |
| Location | WV 9, Berkeley Springs, West Virginia |
|---|---|
| Built | 1885 |
| Architect | Mullett,A.B. and Ashford, Snowden |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 80004035 |
| Added to NRHP | November 28, 1980[1] |
The Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage, also known as the Berkeley Castle, is located on a hill above Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. The castle-like house was built for Colonel Samuel Taylor Suit of Washington, D.C. as a personal retreat near the spa town, beginning in 1885. It was not complete by the time of his death in 1888 and was finished in the early 1890s for his widow, Rosa Pelham Suit, whom Suit had first met at Berkeley Springs. The post 1888 work is of noticeably inferior quality.[2]
The fifteen-room interior features a ballroom 50 feet (15.2 m) wide and 40 ft (12.2 m) long. The design is attributed to Washington architect Alfred B. Mullett, who is alleged to have drawn a rough sketch of the plan on a tablecloth at the Berkeley Springs Hotel. The design may have been based on elements of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.[3] Detailed design and construction supervision was carried out by Snowden Ashford, who designed Washington's Eastern Market.[4] Mrs. Suit entertained lavishly at the house until her money ran out and the property was sold in 1913.[2]
Snowden Ashford, also credited as an architect, apprenticed for Mullett.
The house is now privately owned and is available for rentals for special occasions.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b Rodney S. Collins (July 10, 1980). "National Register of Historic Places Nomination: Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage" (pdf). National Park Service.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ "Colonel Suit". History. U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
- ^ Sullian, Jack (Spring 2005). "The Life and Loves of S.T. Suit: A Jug-Filler's Story" (PDF). Bottles and Extras. Federation of Historic Bottle Collectors. pp. 66–69. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
External links
Media related to Samuel Taylor Suit Cottage at Wikimedia Commons
- Bath (Berkeley Springs), West Virginia
- Castles in West Virginia
- Houses completed in 1891
- Houses in Morgan County, West Virginia
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia
- National Register of Historic Places in Morgan County, West Virginia
- Stone houses in West Virginia
- Victorian architecture in West Virginia
- West Virginia Registered Historic Place stubs