Hillsdale House - Classic Luxury

Hillsdale House had been built over three hundred years ago, and had stood in unblemished glory since then. Various internal and external reconstructions had been made to preserve its historical stateliness, but the appearance had been unchanged. It had been home to the Mayor of Nachton ever since Nachton had a Mayor, and had since housed many various domestic and foreign dignitaries.

Not far from the center of the city, Hillsdale rested upon a plot of land that had been at one time a plantation. As the city had grown, the land had slowly been developed until all that was left was Hillsdale itself, a sprawling building in the midst of a thriving city.

Hillsdale House is a sight to behold during any season; its front 'yard,' kept safely behind a wrought-iron fence and guarded day and night, is well manicured with lush green grass and tidy bushes arranged in lines. The driveway is semi-circular, enabling visitors to drive right to the foot of the wide marble staircase.

Ten steps up will take you to the double-door entrance of Hillsdale and upon entering, the visitor is immediately enveloped in decorations that are somewhere between tasteful and ostentatious. The carpets are deep blue with gold edging, filling the vast expanse of foyer and covering the staircase as well.

To your left and right upon entering are the men and womens' receiving rooms respectively. They consist of coat- and powder- rooms with restrooms attached, spacious and able to handle many people at once.

The staircase is quite wide, and goes up twenty steps before splitting off left and right. The left leads to the west wing, where the residences and suites are, as well as the actual living areas. To the right is the upper entrance to the ballroom, a grand, two-tiered marvel of architecture.

Belowstairs, immediately underneath and just behind the staircase, are a library and a music room, both for more intimate gatherings, able to accommodate groups of no more than 15. Underneath the west wing are several rooms for business meetings, the study, and a few other scattered storage areas. Leading off the foyer is a door with a staircase leading down, into the basement which houses a spacious kitchen as well as the laundry room and other various rooms for maintenance.

The ballroom has several entrances. One is on the ground floor to the foyer; that is the main entrance. Another is at the top of the grand staircase; that leads onto the balcony. A third entrance joins the kitchens and the ballroom, and a fourth leads outside through a set of elaborate glass doors into the gardens beyond. There is a fifth door above that which leads to an outside balcony, but there is no way down from that balcony - just the doorway back into the ballroom.

The ballroom itself is a huge great-room with wood floors that are maintained at a polished golden shine. It can serve as dance floor, dining area, or both, and easily houses up to 200 visitors, not including its balcony. The balcony, accessible by the doors mentioned above as well as two curving staircases at either end, is a wide tier that runs along both sides and the front of the ballroom. It is easily large enough to hold another hundred guests in comfort.

Graceful, sweeping pillars curve at each corner of the ballroom in a pseudo-roman style, with very little in the way of rafters, lending the room an amazingly open, spacious feel. The roof peaks overhead, a gentle curve rather than a slope, supporting itself by nature of design. The walls are painted an eggshell white, decorated with pictures of Nachton through the ages by various artists who have been either resident or visitor, some of them quite famous. At the far end of the ballroom there is room for an orchestra or podium with speakers, and discretely placed throughout, are the telltale signs of an elaborate sound system.