 The stately manor house
at Elsing Green is one of Virginia’s most outstanding examples of Colonial
architecture. The house, which many mistakenly classify as Georgian, is Queen
Anne. Elsing Green’s U-shaped plan with two wings to the north is unique for a
house its size.
The manor house is two
stories with an English basement. The Flemish bond brickwork is executed in
the highest Colonial Virginia Standards. The brick walls are laid with random
glazed headers above and below the water table. Rubbed brick surrounds the
windows, entrance and corners of the house. The belt course and splayed flat
window arches (said to be among the deepest found in Virginia) consist of gauged
brickwork.
|
To the east of the manor
house is the small lodge built before 1690, an excellent example of one of the
very few Jacobean period brick buildings in Virginia. The lodge is one and a
half stories with an English basement. Like the manor house, the walls are
laid in Flemish bond above the water table, and rubbed brick surrounds the
windows, doors and corners. To the west of the manor house lies the old
kitchen where the meals were prepared to be served to the family in the main
house.