Windsor Plantation was constructed for planter Smith Coffee Daniell II from 1859 to 1861. One of the largest private residences in Mississippi before the Civil War, the mansion originally featured twenty-nine Corinthian columns. More than a century of destructive exposure to the elements has caused significant erosion to the 45-foot-tall Corinthian columns and fracturing of cast iron capitals on the columns. The stabilization project includes the repointing of masonry, infilling voids in the columns with new masonry, pinning and securing the failing stucco finish, and conservation treatments to the cast iron capitals.
“To our knowledge, a project to stabilize a ruin like this has not been attempted at this scale in the United States,” said MDAH chief of preservation Mingo Tingle “MDAH staff, WFT Architects, and architectural conservator, George Fore, have worked seamlessly with United Restoration & Preservation, Inc. to address the stabilization process and specific conservation needs of the Windsor Ruins.”