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"You really won't find
anything better from this period until you look at the White
House...Every stone is cut exactly to fit on all four sides
giving you a flat, smooth wall. It is incredibly difficult
to do."
- Bill Bolger, Architectural
Historian and Landmarks Coordinator, National Park Service
Although
this outstanding estate can stand solely on its architectural
significance, its connection to Isaac Meason only reinforces its
historical importance. Considered to be one of the richest
men in the northeast at the time, Meason led the future
development of the iron and steel industry by establishing the
first commercially successful iron furnace and forge west of the
Alleghenies in 1791.
Meason
also built the world's first iron suspension bridge as well as
owned 20,000 acres of land, six iron furnaces, toll ferries and
bridges, grist mills, the entire town of New Haven and property
in Kentucky.
In
1990, the Meason Mansion was designated a National Historic
Landmark by virtue of its integrity, its unique seven-part
Palladian plan, the craftsmanship of the masonry and woodwork,
and the integration of the building with a formal landscape
design as well as its association with a pioneer of national
importance in the early iron industry. |
