text: colross colross , ( also historically known as belle air and grasshopper hall ) , is a georgian mansion in princeton , new jersey ; it was built as the center of an estate in the old town neighborhood of alexandria , virginia . colross is currently the administration building of princeton day school . the colross property originally occupied the entire 1100 block of oronoco street ; alexandria merchant john potts developed it as a plantation and began building the mansion in 1799 – 1800 . in 1803 , jonathan swift — also an alexandria merchant and a city councilman — purchased the property and during his ownership continued constructing the mansion . after swift 's death in 1824 , colross was by thomson francis mason ( 1785 – 1838 ) , son of thomson mason ( 1759 – 1820 ) and grandson of founding father george mason ( 1725 – 1792 ) of gunston hall . mason served as a judge of the criminal court of the district of columbia and as mayor of alexandria . during his ownership , mason made colross his chief homestead ; he substantially modified and added to the mansion . after successive ownerships , the area around colross became heavily industrialized . the mansion was bought by john munn in 1929 ; between that year and 1932 it was transported brick - by - brick to princeton , where in 1958 it was sold to princeton day school , which uses it as a school administration building housing its admission and advancement offices . the colross mansion is a two - story , brick , georgian - style structure that features an architectural plan similar to those of mount vernon and woodlawn , and was originally flanked by two wings . the front entrance is covered by a spacious neoclassical portico supported by wooden doric columns . the roof is topped by a balustraded deck and is further embellished by three dormer windows . following the 2005 purchase of the original colross site by a real estate development company , an archaeological excavation was undertaken between march and june that year at the behest of the city of alexandria . archaeologists uncovered an underground domed brick cistern and evidence of slave outbuildings , in addition to the foundations of the estate 's peripheral walls and several ancillary structures . the excavation of the colross site resulted in 79 condominium buyers abandoning their purchase agreements because of the delay in construction of a luxury monarch condominium project . colross served as the venue for several significant mason family events , including the wedding ceremonies of thomson francis mason 's daughters sarah elizabeth mason ( 1819 – 1907 ) and virginia mason ( 1830 – 1919 ) . according to local tradition , two children in the mason family died on the property and were interred in the estate 's burial vault . successive owners of the colross estate claimed it was haunted by the deceased mason children . history virginia the land on which colross was first located was originally part of the northern neck proprietary , a land grant that charles ii of england awarded to seven of his supporters in 1649 and renewed by an official patent in 1688 . one of these seven supporters , thomas colepeper , 2nd baron colepeper , acquired the entire area in 1681 ; his grandson , thomas fairfax , 6th lord fairfax of cameron , inherited it in 1719 . john potts , a prominent alexandria merchant , developed the colross property as a plantation . he began building a brick mansion on the property between 1799 and 1800 . potts encountered financial difficulties and placed the unfinished mansion on the market in 1801 . in december 1803 , jonathan swift , a merchant and freemason , bought the property for $ 9 , 000 . swift purchased colross for his bride , anne roberdeau , daughter of brigadier general daniel roberdeau ( 1727 – 1795 ) . some sources say swift 's wife reportedly named the estate belle air ; according to other sources , swift referred to his estate as both " belle air " and " grasshopper hall " . swift presided over alexandria city council from 1822 through 1823 . his wife , two daughters , and three sons lived with him at the mansion . as alexandria expanded , colross evolved from a rural plantation into an urban estate . between 1791 and 1847 , the city of alexandria was a part of alexandria county within the district of columbia . swift continued to construct the mansion . after his death in 1824 , the estate transferred to the ownership of lee massey alexander and his sister , mrs. chapman . the alexander family owned the estate for a brief period ; they renamed it " colross " . colross was then purchased by thomson francis mason ( 1785 – 1838 ) , a prominent jurist , lawyer , councilman , judge of the criminal court of the district of columbia , and mayor of alexandria between 1827 and 1830 . mason was the eldest son of thomson mason ( 1759 – 1820 ) , and was the grandson of u.s. founding father george mason ( 1725 – 1792 ) of gunston hall . according to mason 's daughter virginia mason davidge , her father won colross " at a game of cards " from lee massey alexander . mason used colross as his chief homestead and made substantial modifications and additions to it . mason built a 10 ft ( 3 . 0 m ) high brick wall around the exterior of the colross property . around the same time mason acquired colross , he built huntley in fairfax county , virginia as a rural retreat and summer villa . mason 's son , arthur " pen " pendleton mason ( 1835 – 1893 ) , later inherited the colross estate . pen mason was married to mary ellen campbell , a daughter of john archibald campbell ( 1811 – 1889 ) , an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states . orlando b. willcox , who later served as a union army general , visited colross on several occasions around 1851 ; he described it as a " fine house and ground and the chief residence of the masons of alexandria , much frequented by officers of the army " . willcox also remarked on the " hospitality and civility of the head of the house " , pen mason 's mother , elizabeth " betsey " clapham price ( 1802 – 1873 ) . during the american civil war , colross was seized by union authorities . according to local tradition and to alexandria resident julian taylor , at least two union deserters were executed with their backs against the estate 's high brick exterior wall . in addition , a " famous ' bounty jumper ' " by the name of downey was also shot and killed against the wall after being captured by his own soldiers . local traditions also tell of the ghost of a soldier who haunts the former location of the estate 's brick perimeter wall . william albert smoot , a lumber merchant and coal businessman , purchased colross from the mason family and lived there with his family between 1885 and 1917 . smoot 's wife was a member of the alexander family , and was therefore a descendant of the estate 's former owners . while there , the ' daughter betty wrote , " the grounds included a whole square block and were enclosed with an ancient brick wall ten feet in height " . the ' son william albert later served as mayor of alexandria from 1922 to 1930 . the parents of cornell university professor and activist alice cook ( 1903 – 1998 ) lived at the then - dilapidated colross with her father 's superior from the southern railway . her father worked for the railroad 's bookkeeping department . cook spent her early childhood at the house . in c . 1913 , when cook was about ten , her mother took her to colross for a visit . she remarked that colross " had no gaslights , and running water only in the kitchen " , and that the house " stood in the midst of railroad tracks " . cook also said the house 's adjacent stables still had horses , the " elegant plaster ceilings " remained intact , and " great oak doors " still stood within the house 's main doorway behind the white columns of the front portico . in 1917 , another lumber merchant , william hoge , acquired ownership of the mansion . under similar circumstances to those of nearby abingdon , properties surrounding colross underwent industrialization with the construction of a warehouse complex and ancillary industrial buildings associated with alexandria hay & grain . the mansion at colross became a storage facility within a lumber yard operated by another planing mill owner . in 1927 , the mansion and the adjacent warehouses were substantially damaged by a tornado , making the mansion uninhabitable . new jersey between 1929 and 1932 , john munn purchased the mansion , dismantled it , and shipped the structure brick - by - brick to princeton , new jersey , where it was restored . following munn 's death in 1956 , colross was purchased by dr. geoffrey w. rake . after rake died in 1958 , colross was sold to princeton day school . the mansion became the school 's administrative building , which it remains to this day . as of 2015 , colross houses the admission and advancement offices of princeton day school , and serves as a venue for the institution 's events . in alexandria , the mansion 's remaining brick foundation was buried beneath a slab of reinforced concrete for over 50 years . after the mansion 's relocation , its site was the location — among other structures — of a large 50 - truck garage , andy 's car wash , a dominion virginia power substation , and the creative printers facility . architecture the mansion at colross was built in the georgian architectural style between 1799 and 1800 . it is a two - story brick house featuring a rectangular architectural plan , which was originally flanked by two wings . colross features wide halls and spacious rooms . one wing housed facilities for the estate 's service staff ; the other wing served as a carriage shed . colross ' architectural plan is similar to that of nearby estates mount vernon and woodlawn , and is an example of the country house style of american colonial architecture common in maryland and virginia . it has been described as the " largest and most beautiful mansion ever erected in alexandria " . the colross property originally occupied the entire 1100 block of oronoco street . the grounds of the estate also contained ancillary outbuildings . the exterior brick walls of the mansion are laid in a flemish bond pattern , exhibiting a " well proportioned width " of mortar joint between the bricks . two sets of double inside chimneys extend above the roofline on each side of the mansion 's main structure . the front façade of the mansion 's main structure , which originally faced oronoco street in alexandria , is five bays wide and contains the house 's front entrance at the first floor 's center bay . the front entrance is covered by a spacious neoclassical architecture style portico , which is supported by two sets of double wooden doric columns at the front and engaged columns on the brick façade . the portico 's frieze is subordinated to the architrave . the mansion 's front door is topped by a leaded fanlight in the shape of a segmented arch . leaded sidelights flank both sides of the main doorway . all of the mansion 's windows feature colonial - style lintels . the mansion 's roof is covered by gray slate and is further embellished with three dormer windows facing from the home 's front façade . the roof is topped by a balustraded deck . similar moulding contours were used at varying scales throughout the mansion 's exterior construction . the mansion 's cornice is composed of ornamented moldings . to the north of the mansion was a garden , which was purportedly well known for its boxwoods , lilacs , and roses . the garden remained through the ownership of the smoot family . a winding path led from the mansion to a large burial vault , which was closed by a great iron lock . according to members of the smoot family , the lock to the burial vault would " never stay locked more than three days " at a time . a vase of urn stood in the front lawn of the mansion ; according to tradition this marked the location where pocahontas was baptized . the urn remained in its location throughout the american civil war and was later acquired by the association for the preservation of virginia antiquities . archeological excavation the former colross land tract on the 1100 block of oronoco street , which is bounded by north fayette , oronoco , henry , and pendleton streets , was purchased in 2003 by diamond properties , a real estate development company with plans to build a mixed - use mid - rise luxury condominium project called monarch condominium . in 2005 , alexandria 's archaeological protection code requirement forced diamond properties to halt its construction to allow for an archaeological excavation of the colross site . the excavation occurred between march and june 2005 , as mandated by the city of alexandria . diamond properties paid r. christopher goodwin & associates inc . , a cultural resource management firm , approximately $ 100 , 000 to explore the site for historical artifacts and to ensure all burial plots had been removed . while only a few artifacts were recovered , historians said the dig offered a clearer view of early 19th - century life at colross . discoveries included an underground domed brick cistern that served as a water purification system and evidence that slaves lived in outbuildings on the colross estate . archaeologists also discovered the mansion 's original basement floor , which was laid in a herringbone bond . evidence of the estate 's exterior walls , the foundations of the smokehouse , stables , and a burial vault were also unearthed . in the northwestern portion of the property , what is thought to have been the foundation of a rectangular burial vault was found . no burial remains were discovered . all interments were presumably removed in the early 20th century . thomson francis mason was originally interred at the colross graveyard in 1838 , as were two of his daughters . subsequent residents had their remains reinterred at christ church episcopal cemetery in alexandria . according to the alexandria economic development partnership , the delay in caused 79 condominium buyers to abandon their purchases . significant mason family events the colross estate was the location for several significant events involving the mason family . sarah elizabeth mason ( 1819 – 1907 ) , a daughter of thomson francis mason and his wife elizabeth clapham price , married st. george tucker campbell at colross on november 17 , 1841 . virginia mason ( 1830 – 1919 ) , another daughter of thomson and elizabeth married william stewart davidge at colross on february 1 , 1853 . colross was also the venue for the funeral of mrs. virginia king , wife of dr. benjamin king , on december 31 , 1850 . mrs. king was a sister of mrs. judge mason . according to local tradition , two small mason children , william and ann , were playing in the estate 's yard when a storm arrived . william took shelter in the estate 's chicken coop but the wind toppled the structure , killing him . soon after william 's death , his sister ann drowned in a bathtub at colross . both children were interred in the estate 's burial vault in the garden . successive residents at colross , including members of the smoot family , claimed the estate was haunted by the deceased mason children ; they reported hearing children " giggling , singing , and talking " , and witnessed apparitions of children in pre - civil war attire .