Longwood
National Historic Landmark · Natchez, Mississippi
The largest octagonal house in the United States, begun in 1860 for the cotton planter Haller Nutt to a design by the Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan — six storeys under a byzantine onion dome, thirty-two rooms planned. The Philadelphia workmen put down their tools in 1861 and went north when the war began, and they never came back. Only the nine-room basement was finished; the family lived in it, and the five floors above are still raw brick and bare scaffolding with the workmen's tools, paint pots and packing crates where they were left. It is the most extraordinary unfinished building in America and it is open to the public.
140 Lower Woodville Road, Natchez, Mississippi, 39120, United States
Open daily, generally 9 AM to 4:30 PM, with the last guided tour leaving well before closing — GUIDED TOURS ONLY, on the hour or half hour. Closed on major holidays. Run by the Pilgrimage Garden Club, which also operates Stanton Hall; a combination ticket covers both. The Natchez Pilgrimage in spring and autumn fills the town.