1. ARC337
Prof. Massey
Leandro Cortez
Architecture of Equality
The system of Plantation in the United States
has always had a double connotation attached
to it. There are those who look at this time and
are reminded of an old America, plentiful with
agricultural life where large and green sprawling
plantations developed a romanticized rich and
elegant socio-economic culture that translated a
European way of life in the new world. However,
there are those that regard these columned edi-
fices and sprawling agricultural lands as reminder
of the dark history of slavery that used to exist
within the fields and homes of these European
mock ups. Geography takes these two distinct
lifestyles and creates a setting for them that the
edifice’s program and exterior must adapt to in You can observe the proximity of the plantation to the ocean while not
evident is the proximity to the Mystic river. The Figure was created by
order to function accordingly. However, it is Leandro Cortez.
through architecture that one truly sees a blend of
not only the privileged cultural lifestyle and its
romanticized connotations but also a sight into
the dark lifestyle that was slavery while creat-
ing an adaptation to the geography of each given
plantation.
While it is uncommon to hear about slave
plantations in the North it is important to realize
that slavery in the New England colonies was
very much present until the early 1800’s. The
first reference to African slavery in Massachu-
setts is given in connection with the Pequot War
in 1637 when Native American war prisoners
where traded for slaves in the West Indies. Most
of the slave trade in 17th century New England
surprsingly ocurred in Massachusetts and it was
Boston merchants who made the first attempt at
direct importing slaves from West Africa. Mas-
sachusetts’ roots in scrupulous fundamentalism
Protestantism did not impede it from viewing
slavery in a bad light. On the contrary, Puritans
saw themselves as enlightened by god and slavery An image of slaves being brought out from the ships in New
England, 1830 (HABS)
was simply the law of the god of Israel. Cal-
vanist idologies simply stated that, “blacks were
a people cursed and condemned by god to serve
whites”(Slavery in Massachusetts). One of the most
prominent Northern slave plantations of this time
was the Royall House located in Medford, Massa-
chusetts. Slavery was prominent in this plantation
for 150 years and the architectural remnants of

2. this time demonstrate the intertwined lives of both
slaves and plantation owners.
The Royall House and Slave Quarters are the
last remnants of a 600 acre plantation first owned by
Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop. The Royalls
settled in what was then the hamlet of the Mystick river.
Isaac Royall’s father had made his money on the Island
of Antigua working as a slave trader. When the danger
of slave uprisings seemed eminent he moved his family
to New England where he purchased Ten Hill Farms.
The existing farmhouse built by Gov. Winthrop was be-
neath his standards and thus he began a major remodel-
ing campaign by doubling the footprint of the home and
by raising the roofs to enclose three stories. For this rea-
son when observing the interior of the home one notices Section and Plan of Royall house demonstrating the house that
John Winthrop built before the Rennovation made by Isaac Roy-
that the dimensions of the first entry rooms are smaller all ( Manegold, C.S)
while the renovated rooms are bigger in size. The Royall
house was finished in 1732 but after the death of Isaac
Royall his son continued to remodel the home by updat-
ing the garden front in Classical style that incorporated
adding pilasters, pediments, and wood shaped panels to
resemble stone. Isaac’s son encased the East façade
in clapboard and decorated the exterior with archi-
tectural details and continuous strips of spandrel
panels
If we look at the plan of the Royall house
we can observe a typical centralized hallway layout
that is accessible from both the Eastern and Western
sides of the home. Each room gives priority to the
hearth as it serves to not only heat each room dur-
ing the cold New England months but to help create
the typical Georgian style exterior of two large ex-
truding chimneys on the brick covered sides of the Eastern Facade of the Royall House ( Manegold, C.S)
home. Furthermore, the expansion made by Isaac
Royall not only added two new rooms with a hearth
but it also expanded the magnitude of the home’s
height and higlight the hearth as an important ele-
ment within the home. The addition of these two
rooms allowed for a new dining space and lounge
area to be created thus formalizing the interior of
the home to more adequately resemble the wealthier
Northern plantations of that time.
The facades were a response to the context
of the site, as the home‘s Western façade faced the
Mystic river and thus had the most elaborate deco-
ration because this was the side that most visitors
from England coming from the dock nearby would
see first. The Eastern façade on the other hand was
less elaborate ,but still heavily decorated, as this
was the side where wagons would come deliver
Western Facade of the Royall House ( Manegold, C.S)
merchandise from other colonies and then depart.

3. It is also important to note, that 28 feet behind the
Eastern façade was where the slave quarters resided as
it was common for the slaves to unload the merchandise
and take it inside but also the placement of the quarter
was given the backside as it was generally considered
the unimportant part of the house.
Royall extended the brick end walls and placed
two twin chimneys at the end of the house while add-
ing two Doric pilasters in each corner. The addition
or corner quoins and the arrangement of the windows
one on top of another resulted in a Georgian style
plantation home that was actually quite close in style
“to the homes that were being built in London in the
1730’s”(Royall House). Furthermore, the siding in the
South Eastern façade utilized a method of wood panels
“that made illicit the stone siding formal qualities of
English housing”( Royall House). This result is not at The slave quarters share the same materiality as the Main house
but lacks amenities when it comes to inside living conditions.
all surprising as Royall sent decorative façade construc- (HABS)
tion documents from London to his brother who was
in charge of the construction process in New England.
Moreover, Royall’s ideals of loyalism to the king and
his patriotism for his home country led him to bring this
new world translation of English architecture into the
sprawling fields of Medford, Massachusetts.
Isaac Royal built a separate slave quarter for the
Royall Plantation House in 1733 to house the 27 slaves
that he had newly acquired from Antigua. Interestingly
enough the two story brick and wood panel construc-
tion is considered “the only such structure in the U.S”
(Manegold) for the reason that the housing component
was actually “quite rudimentary in accommodations”
but very complex in terms of its construction. Bricks
were utilized effectively in the construction of the walls
and as a form of insulation while wooden beams were
used for the general structural layout. Half of the build-
ing was covered in wooden panels to resemble the ex-
terior condition of the Royall house and in itself blend
the slave quarter within the main house. The reason
for these complex slave quarters was that it was quite
expensive to import slaves from the Caribbean so it was
important to give them amenities to protect them from
the cold and harsh weather of the Northern colonies. For
this reason when one looks inside the slave quarters one
will find a large hearth being the main component of
the edifice while less attention is given to other program
such as rooms and the kitchen. The kitchen for the main
house was located in the slave quarters as it was not Plan of the Slave Quarters in the Royall House. (HABS)
common at this time for the kitchen to be in the main
house itself because cooking was seen as job adequate
for slaves.

4. Furthermore, careful attention is given to insula-
tion by creating a well enough thick brick wall that
can insulate the cold while containing enough op-
erable windows that can be opened in the Summer.
The placement of the hearth was very important
because it layed out the rest of the program in the
slave quarter. The hearth ,unlike the main house,
was a central component that needed to to create
heat for the rest of the slave quarter in the cheapest
way possible.
“In the Ten Hills Farm (Royall plantation)
slaves produced wool, cider, and hay while tend-
ing livestock.” (Slavery in Massachusetts)Some
of the slaves worked in the fields while others
had “higher status” jobs as boatmen, domestic A closer look at the layout of the centralized hearth. (HABS)
servants, cooks, valets, and maids. However, the
region’s mercantile economy “meant fewer slaves
were required to plant single cash crops like
tobacco, or rice to plant and harvest”(Hugh How-
ard) As result, most slaves learned a specific trade
and many became shipwrights, carpenters, tailors,
printers, blacksmiths, bakers, or coopers. It was of
advantage for the masters of Royall house to have
a slave with a skill because that meant that they
could be hired out and in turn earn more money.
The slaves in the Royall plantation were a com-
mon presence in the household in comparison to
slaves in the South. Household slaves, would be
constantly called upon by their masters and for this
reason some of them would have to sleep within an
upstairs designated room or in the attic. Household
slaves were put in charge of cooking, cleaning,
gardening, and repairing. Household slaves in the
Royall house were very close to their masters and
some were freed upon the death of Isaac Royall in
1739. The rest of the slave workforce were sent to
sleep in the quarters upon hay layed on the ground
for them. They would gather around the hearth
rooms and up to 20 would sleep together on the
floor.
Programatically and in terms of interior
decoration both the Royall house and the slave
quarter had nothing in common. The interior of the
Royall house was filled with many types of deco-
rative motifs. There were leaf carvings on the arcs
inside the home which were topped by carfully
made keystones at the top. The balustrades were
turned and decorated with flowers and finished A closer look at the ballustrades decorating the main staircase in
the Royall house. ( HABS)
with white paint. The purpose of these elaborate
decorations was to give the idea to visitors coming

5. in from either the colonies or Europe that this
was a cultured house capable of the same ameni-
ties found in England. The slave quarters were
very simple and very little attention was given to
its interior decoration. the hearth was probably
the most complex interior amenity and this was
because if it was not given importance then the
workforce would die when the winter came.
The Royalls were very proud of their
English heritage and it was of importance for
them to demonstrate their capabilitie of simulat-
ing the lifes they used to have in the “mother-
land”. Furthermore, the Royalls obsession with
imported materials from Europe such as marble
and mahogany tables, peer glasses ( mirrors), and
a Turkish rug demonstrated their desire to want to
bring the European culture in to the New World.
The lives of the Royalls was striking contrast
to that of the African slaves living just behind
the house. As US Slaves states, “ The manner
in which the Royalls lived was dependent upon
slavery, and the new interpretation at the property
poses a jarring contrast between English gentry
and African slaves.” ( US Slave)
Even though both Slave quarters and the
“main” house in the Royall plantation had such
big differences in cultural lifestyles it is architec- Slaves sleeping within the slave quarters and the Royal Family.
ture that materialistically brings them together. ( Manegold, C.S)
The wooden siding found in both the slave quar-
ter and the main house are made similar to work
in unison and imitate that English stone that is so
prevelant in London Georgian homes. The focus
on hearth in the most important rooms in both
homes brings them together ,in concept, to once
again imitate the portruding chimneys found in
upperclass London homes. The desire to achieve
perfect imitation of the European environment
interestingly led to a sort of architectural equality
within what represents the slaves ( the quarters)
and what represents the masters ( the Royall
house). Moreover, It is but the mere wooden
siding on the slave quarters followed by a brick
exterior that connects the house to the quarter. Al-
though materialistic, this architectural connection
that happens as result of materiality and hearth
demonstrate the only elements that gave, the slave
and plantation owner lifestyle, a form of equality
within this 1700’s society.

6. Bibliography
Historic American Building Survey.Library of Congress.
Built in America. Web. 2 Oct. 2012
Hugh Howard, US Slave , Slave Quarters in Medfrod Mas-
sachusetts“. Google. Web. 24 September. 2012
Manegold,C.S. Ten Hills Farm. Princeton: Princenton Uni-
versity Press, 2010. Print.
“Royall House” www.bobvilla.com .Youtube. 3 Nov. 2012.
Web.
“Slavery in Massachusetts” slavenorth.com. np,Web. 7 Mar.
2007.