Talk:Whitemarsh Hall

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[edit] Indignant Fan of Versailles?

The section that compares Whitemarsh Hall to Versailles seems unecessary. It looks like someone is insulted by the nickname, but i don't think it's a very important aspect of the house.

The nickname was far from the reality of the palace of French royalty. The real Versailles had (and still has) grounds about six times as large and a main building about five times as big as Whitemarsh's. Stotesbury collected Art for a few decades while the French kings and their successors filled Versailles with cultural treasures over several centuries.

Perhaps it should be removed, or at least made more neutral. Thebunsk 02:57, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

How would you make it more neutral? I was stating the facts, taken from the book on Whitemarsh Hall and the Wiipedia article on Versailles. The idea is not to mislead people (who have not read completely the article on Versailles) in thinking that Whitemarsh hall was in any way in the same scale as Versailles. At the same time, the book on Whitemarsh Hall, and other sources on it also call it repeatdly "The American Versailles".. They do not call it "The American Buckingham palace, or the American Xanadu". It's an important qualifier given ist repeated use. --AlainV 03:40, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

It's just that in my opinion a frivolous nickname doesn't need to be justified or proven/disproven. The claim isn't that whitemarsh hall equals versailles, it's that whitemarsh hall is to america what versailles is to france, though that is also not accurate. You're comparision is factual, but i dont think anyone ever claimed they were equal. Thebunsk 05:19, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

It was not called the American Versailles because of any physical similarity (ie, style) to the palace, it was because of the qualities it possessed: grandeur, etc. I have heard that mansion referred to as the American Versailles countless times. The "description" of why it is called that is inaccurate and not necessary. Charles 21:02, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

If it has more to do with qualities then write that in the article, with sources. I got all my info from the book by Charles and Edward Zwicker and other Wikipedia articles. If you have access to more sources, great, put up some info from them. Otherwise people can't guess what the term meant since they don't have the hsotorical context historians (pro or amateru) might have or the US context. --AlainV 23:37, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

Obviously you're information about versailles is accurate and well-sourced, but it belongs in a different article. --Thebunsk 04:22, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

Maybe they call it the "American Versailles" because it was one of the most beautiful homes in American and Versailles is the most beautiful palace in europe. User:Daniel_Chiswick 26 March, 2007