Mansion

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Gelbensande Manor, an 1885Grnderzeit style mansion built for hunting, near Rostock, Germany.

A mansion is a large dwelling house.

The word itself derives (through Old French) from the Latin word mansio "dwelling", an abstract noun
derived from the verb manere "to dwell". The English word "manse" originally defined a property
large enough for the parish priest to maintain himself, but a mansion is no longer self-sustaining in
this way (compare a Roman or medieval villa). 'Manor' comes from the same rootterritorial
holdings granted to a lord who would remain therehence it is easy to see how the word 'Mansion'
came to have its meaning.
Contents
[hide]

1 History

2 19th century development

3 Latin America

4 The "modern" mansion

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

History[edit]
Within an ancient Roman city, patrician dwellings might be very extensive, and luxurious. Such
mansions on one hill in Rome became so extensive that the term palatial was actually derived from
the name Palatine hill and is the etymological origin of "palace".[1]

Renaissance villas such as Villa Rotonda near Vicenza were an inspiration for many later mansions, especially
during the industrialisation.

Following the fall of Rome the practice of building unfortified villas ceased. Today, the oldest
inhabited mansions around the world usually began their existence as fortified castles in the middle
ages. As social conditions slowly changed and stabilised fortifications were able to be reduced, and
over the centuries gave way to comfort. It became fashionable and possible for homes to be
beautiful rather than grim and forbidding allowing for the development of the modern mansion.
In British English a mansion block refers to a block of flats or apartments designed for the
appearance of grandeur. In many parts of Asia, including Hong Kong and Japan, the
word mansion also refers to a block of apartments.
In Europe, from the 15th century onwards, a combination of politics and advancements in modern
weaponry negated the need for the aristocracy to live in fortified castles. As a result many were
transformed into mansions without defences or demolished and rebuilt in a more modern,
undefended style. Due to intermarriage and primogeniture inheritance amongst the aristocracy, it
became common for one noble to often own several country houses. These would be visited
rotationally throughout the year as their owner pursued the social and sporting circuit from country
home to country home.[2] Many owners of a country house would also own a town mansion in their
country's capital city. These town mansions were referred to as 'houses' in London, hotels in Paris
and palaces in most European cities elsewhere. It might be noted that sometimes the house of a
clergyman was called a "mansion house" (e.g.by the Revd James Blair, Commissary in Virginia for
the Bishop of London, 1689-1745, a term related to the word "manse" commonly used in the Church
of Scotland and in Non-Conformist churches. H.G.Herklots, The Church of England and the
American Episcopal Church).

Harlaxton Manor, England, a 19th-century meeting of Renaissance, Tudor and Gothic architecture
producedJacobethan - a popular form ofhistoricist mansion architecture.

As the 16th century progressed, and Renaissance styles of architecture slowly spread across
Europe, the last vestiges of castle architecture and life changed; the central points of these great
house, great halls, became redundant as owners wished to live separately from their servants, and

no longer ate with them in a Great Hall. All evidence and odours of cooking and staff were banished
from the principal parts of the house into distant wings, while the owners began to live in airy rooms,
above the ground floor, with privacy from their servants, who were now confined, unless required, to
their specifically delegated areasoften the ground and uppermost attic floors. This was a period of
great social change, as the educated prided themselves on enlightenment. [3]
The uses of these edifices paralleled that of the Roman villas. It was vital for powerful people and
families to keep in social contact with each other as they were the primary moulders of society. The
rounds of visits and entertainments were an essential part of the societal process, as painted in the
novels of Jane Austen. State business was often discussed and determined in informal settings.
Times of revolution reversed this value. During July/August 1789 a significant number of French
country mansions (chateaux) were destroyed by the rural population as part of the Great Fear - a
symbolic rejection of the feudal rights and restraints in effect under the ancient rgime.[4]
Until World War I it was not unusual for a moderately sized mansion in England such as Cliveden to
have an indoor staff of 20 and an outside staff of the same size[citation needed], and in ducal mansions such
as Chatsworth House the numbers could be far higher. In the great houses of Italy, the number of
retainers was often even greater than in England; whole families plus extended relations would often
inhabit warrens of rooms in basements and attics. It is doubtful that a 19th-century Marchesa would
even know the exact number of individuals who served her. Most European mansions were also the
hub of vast estates. A true estate (the medieval villa, Frenchville) always contains at least one
complete village and its church. Large estates such as that of Woburn Abbey have several villages
attached.