The Washington times., 1935-07-13
NOW
Shirley Mdnse
Still Luxurious
CARRIERS HOME
By HELEN ESsARY

By HELEN ESSARY
Shirley-on.the-James is dom.
mating old mansion, important
in Virginia's history, Within its
walls eight generations of Cart
ers have lived and died.
The Carriers and the Lees,
with whom they intermarried,
resemble their ancestral home.
They rGve inherited some of
the OLE houses pride and a
touch of its classic auSterity.
Robert E. Lee was the great
grandson of the first John Car
ter who lived at Shirley.
The first John Carter was
the eldest son of King" Carter
of Corotoman, the lordly
founder of the clan of brilliant
Carriers whose names crowd the
pages of Virginia's history
books. John married Elizabeth
Hill, who inherited Shirley
from her brother, Colonel Ed
ward Hill, one of His Majesty's
honorable councillors of state.
Colonel Hills portrait at
Shirley now shows him an
elegant aristocrat in ruby vel
vet and lace. Colonel Hill prob
ably did not build Shirley. The
birthday of the house is not
exactly known. There is a rec
ord, however, of a grant IN
1860 to one Edward Hill, a
member of the Virginia House
of Burgesses.
Long years ago the mansion
was the center of Shirley Hun
bred Shortly after jamestown
was established Virginia colo
nists settled at certain points IN
"hundreds").
It is a big, square house OF
red brick, three stories high.
One entrance faces the placid
James. The other looks out on
the group of smaller houses,
Quilt to minister to the jewellers
IN the mansion.
In Its deep, hipped roof are
10 tail, dormered windows. AS
If such an array were not suf'
ficiently high and mighty, it's
roof rises to an apex on which
stands a huge pine cone and
bold chimneyS.
So splendid is the estate at
Shirley that even the service
houses are fine, big homes. The
kitchen house is three stories
high. The house once used by
the overseer, similar to the
kitchen house, has been used as
O. home by relatives of the last
owners, Admiral and Mrs. James
Madison Oliver. Mrs. Oliver
was Marian Carter.
At We entrance to the gar.
den at Shirley are willow trees
whose roots reach for many
yards on each side of the gar
den fence and gate. On the
lawn. which forms a sort of
courtyard between the mansion
and the smaller houses, are
great oaks and bushes of crepe
myrtle, lilacS and mock oranges.
Both the doorways of the
mansion have fine double porti"
cos supported on both the first
and second stories by six pill
lars. Two Of the pillars are
inset in the brick walls which
are inlaid Flemish bond of al
ternating black and pink broad
sides.
Before the doorway of the
mansion is an old, old mount
ing block of stone worn by the
feet that climbed up beside
fine horses and then galloped
away, sometimes on common
place errands and sometimes
on adventurous undertakings.
7 The interior of the house is
q picture of Colonial beauty.
The magnificent old rooms,
beautifully panelled (tradition
says by the John Carter who
married Elizabeth HilD are fur
nished with the mahogany and
the portraits of the Carter
generations.
The drawing rooms are par
ticularly fine with their ex.
quisite mantelS, their doorways
supporting fine cornices, and
their freScoeS. On every step
of the stairway, from the first
tread in the lower hall to the
top Of the third story, is deli.
cate carving.
Every detail of the big house,
each part of the service build
ings, show the determination of
its builders to make the estate
as nearly perfect as craftsmen
of the day could make it. In
the years that have hurried
along since Shirley was built, its
beauty and quality have been
thoughtfully cared for.
There, for instance, is the
garden, as pleasant a place as
it was when Charles Carter, son
of the first John, was counting
Anne Butler Moore, grand
daughter of the great Governor
Spottiswood of Virginia. Charles
Carter had % children by Anne
Moore and a second wife.
His daughter, Anne Carter,
used to wander down Shirley's