Construction on the Rosedown Plantation house began in 1834 by Daniel Turnbull who was once described, before the civil war, as one of the richest men in the nation. During the peak of cotton production over 450 slaves were owned by the Turnbulls.His wife, Martha, designed the gardens to resemble the formal gardens she had seen during their honeymoon in Europe.
The Turnbull family who owned the property in the 1950s decided to sell the plantation and it was subsequently purchased in 1956 by Catherine Fondren Underwood who also had a love of the gardens. She began to restore the house to its original state of the 1800s and using Martha Turnbull's garden diaries, she returned the gardens to Martha's original design. The house is now preserved as a state historic site by the Office of State Parks.
Fortunately, photography is allowed in the house (without flash) and I was able to take some pictures of the hand painted canvas flooring and beautiful wall murals. One of the features pointed out was the gyp window. Beneath the window is a small door that forms a full sized door when both the door and window is opened. |
| Gyp Window |
