of their days in the mansion, Eliza passing on in 1929 and Ellen in 1946. Architecture Design and construction It is unclear where the idea for such an elaborate structure with a full colonnade came from, but certain signs point to the artistic eye of Belle, the first Bellamy child. While studying in South Carolina, she had taken a liking to a nearby home in Columbia that featured a similar design, and so she shared her ideas with Dr. Bellamy and eventually with the draftsman, Rufus W. Bunnell. Dr. Bellamy hired James F. Post, an architect in Wilmington who had been the supervisor of the construction of Thalian Hall, designed by the renowned John M. Trimble. In May 1859, Post hired Bunnell to be an assistant architect. Henry Taylor was another carpenter who worked on the house. Born to a white man who was also his master, he was known to be nominally an enslaved man, but treated as free. Drawings for Dr. Bellamy’s new home would be produced through the late summer and early fall months, and in October the excavation of the construction site began and the foundation was laid. After the New Year most of Bunnell’s drawings were complete and most of the building supplies had been ordered from New York, including the large Corinthian columns, along with various blinds and window drapings. By February a large portion of the pine frame had been erected, and in March the cornices and the tin roof on the mansion were completed. Slave quarters and a small carriage house, both made of red brick, were also on the property. Among the men building the house were a number of enslaved workers from Wilmington, several freed black artisans, and other skilled carpenters from the area. William B. Gould and other enslaved workers and artisans exhibited their fine skills in the plaster moldings of the interior of the main house and extensive woodwork throughout all twenty-two rooms of the home. The mansion began to take the form of Bunnell and Post’s ultimate vision. Although Dr. Bellamy wanted his home constructed with classic style, and in an old reliable fashion, he was very much interested in modern utilities and innovations that would allow his family to live in comfort. The house was equipped with running hot and cold water, which was supplied by a large cistern and pump. The mansion was even furnished