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Updated: May 31, 2025
Although "Blenheim" is still standing today, the Ratcliffe tavern was torn down in the 1920's and the bricks and mantels were purchased by Col. Francis Pickens Miller who incorporated them into the large brick building which is now known as Flint Hill Private School.
The pillars supporting its roof were round shafts of the same material, with vines of ivy, grape and rose winding about them, carved and colored into perfect representations of the natural shrubs. The drawing-room, which was vast and imposing in size and appearance, had a floor of pure white marble. The mantels and window-sills were of white onyx, with delicate vinings of pink and green.
The classic orders supplied much of the ornamental detail with which these mantels were embellished, and the work gave full scope to the genius of English and American wood-carvers, of whom there were many of marked ability in America. The thriving condition of the ship-building industry in the colonies was instrumental in attracting and developing skilled wood-carvers.
Lady Victoria and Isabel came forth, and they all made their way rapidly down to Nob Hill. The stair was more rickety than ever, and many of the older houses they passed looked badly shaken within, if not without every door was open. The floors were covered with plaster; more often than not the furniture and ornaments, and even mantels, were massed in an indistinguishable heap.
It is in the gracefully ornamented doorways and the delicate interior wood-work, the carving of wainscots, mantels and cornices, the skilful adaptations of classic forms to a soft and delicate material that the charm of this architecture chiefly consists, especially in the staircases, with their carved spiral posts and slender railings, rising upward in the centre of the front hall, and turning right and left on the story above.
Seldom are three mantels to be found which are so similar and yet so different. They present an eloquent illustration of the infinite possibilities of minor variation in architectural design.
Within, a broad hall extends through the house, an archway at the foot of the winding staircase being its most striking feature. Two rooms on each side contain handsome mantels, paneled wainscots and other beautiful wood finish.
Although it was still very early, the pink flush of dawn still lingering in the air, the whole mansion was open as if for a solemn departure. The lamps were still smoking on the mantels, the air was filled with dust.
Her hair was dressed in the same manner as the elder lady's, and differed only in its golden sheen. The customary lamp had been banished, and colored wax-candles, brought from some forgotten receptacle, burned in the quaint old candelabra with which the mantels of the house had long been decorated. The one-armed veteran of thirty gazed in wonder at this unaccustomed brightness.
Dorothy did walk through the great long parlors and admire the handsome Italian marble mantels, and the library with inlaid floor was also explored, but Tavia kept as near as possible to the front door ready to run, she explained. "Why, there's nothing to be afraid of," said Dorothy, now quite at ease.
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