Mansion

The English word manse originally defined a property large enough for the parish priest to maintain himself, but a mansion is usually no longer self-sustaining in this way (compare a Roman or medieval villa).

In modern Japan, a "manshon" (Japanese: マンション), stemming from the English word "mansion", is used to refer to a multi-unit apartment complex or condominium.

In Europe, from the 15th century onwards, a combination of politics and advances in weaponry negated the need for the aristocracy to live in fortified castles.

During July/August 1789, a significant number of French country mansions (chateaux) were destroyed by the rural population as part of the Great Fear—a symbolic rejection of the feudal rights and restraints in effect under the Ancien Régime.

In the great houses of Italy, the number of retainers was often even greater than in England; whole families plus extended relations would often inhabit warrens of rooms in basements and attics.

Many of these were designed by the leading architects of the day, often in European Gothic Revival style, and were built by families who were making their fortunes.

Grand Federal style mansions designed by Samuel McIntire inhabit an area that, in 2012, is the largest collection of 17th- and 18th-century structures in the United States of America.

He and his brothers, Joseph and Angler, began their careers as housewrights and carpenters while in their teens but, early on, Samuel's work caught the eye of Salem's pre-eminent merchant, Elias Hasket Derby.

[8][9] "King" Derby's stamp of approval opened many other doors for McIntire, who went on to design and build mansions for John Gardner, Jerethmiel Peirce, Simon Forrester, and other wealthy Salem shipowners.

The delicate Adam style, which emphasized decorative elements and ornamentation, was preferred for McIntire, who was efficient in design and proportions and had skill as a woodcarver.

Swags, rosettes, garlands, and his signature sheaths of wheat were carved in wood surfaces in McIntire homes built between 1793 and his death in 1811.

In Europe, some 19th-century mansions were often built as replicas of older houses; the Château de Ferrières in France was inspired by Mentmore Towers, which in turn is a copy of Wollaton Hall.

[citation needed] In Latin America, the grand rural estate, the Hacienda, Estancia, in Portuguese speaking Brazil Fazenda or Estância, with the mansion as its stately center, is a characteristic feature.

In comparably developed, densely populated countries like Mexico, feudal estates and their mansions were as grand and stately as in the Mediterranean old world, whereas where estates were founded in the sparsely populated remote areas like the Pampa of Argentina or Uruguay, where iron pillars, doors, windows, and furniture had to be brought from Europe by ship and afterwards ox cart, buildings were smaller, but normally still aspiring to evoke a stately impression, often featuring, like their earlier Italian counterparts, a morador.