Hampton National Historic Site | HAMPTON MANSION KITCHEN

Hampton Mansion Kitchen, Hampton National Historic Site

Hampton Mansion Kitchen, Hampton National Historic Site


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Note: To reach the kitchen, guests must walk down stairs. It is not handicap accessible.

The kitchen at Hampton Mansion is located in the east wing extension. If you are in the garden and looking at the house, this would be the building on the right. An identical extension on the west side of the house is where the laundry room is located. Both buildings are attached to the main house by what is called a hyphen. While serving as an enclosed walkway, the hyphens are wide enough to contain additional rooms. John Carnan Ridgely, the second owner, enlarged the east hyphen in the 1810s and transformed it into a pantry. The west hyphen served as an office.

The kitchen is furnished as it would have been in the 1830s when the estate’s third owners, John and Eliza Ridgely, lived in the mansion. Its defining characteristic is the oven that is built into the wall on the left side of the fireplace. This oven, which is connected to the fireplace, was innovative in that the amount of heat could be controlled, whereas temperature could not be controlled when cooking directly in the fireplace.

The kitchen building is two stories, and the upper story is where the chef lived. The tour does not venture up to the top level.

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Last updated on April 16, 2024
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