her·mit·age / ˈhərmitij/ • n. 1. the dwelling of a hermit, esp. when small and remote.2. (the Hermitage) / ˌermiˈtäzh/ a major art museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, containing among its collections those begun by Catherine the Great.3. (the Hermitage) / ˈhərmitij/ an estate, the home of Andrew Jackson, in central Tennessee, northeast of Nashville.

HERMITAGE

HERMITAGE, the estate of Andrew Jackson, near Nashville, Tenn., bought by Jackson in 1795. He moved to it in 1804, selling all but 6,000 acres of the original 28,000-acre tract. The log cabin that served as Jackson's home was replaced by a brick house in 1819; when this burned in 1834, the present Hermitage building, in a Greek Revival style, was erected on the old site. After Jackson's death the Hermitage was occupied by Andrew Jackson Jr., until 1888, although it had been bought by Tennessee in 1856 to be preserved as a shrine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Horn, Stanley F. The Hermitage, Home of Old Hickory. Richmond, Va.: Garrett and Massie, 1938.

Perry, Lewis. Boats Against the Current: American Culture Between Revolution and Modernity, 1820–1860. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.

R. S.Cotterill/a. r.

See alsoArchitecture ; Jacksonian Democracy ; Old Hickory .

hermitage.
1. Dwelling of a hermit or religious recluse, in the medieval period often associated with religious foundations, endowed for an anchorite in a churchyard or some other place, often attached to a monastery, and frequently associated with an oratory.

2. Habitation in a lonely situation, often in a landscaped park, occupied by a paid ‘hermit’ in C18.

3. Cottage orné, primitive hut, or rustic residence in a landscape intended as a mnemonic of a hermit's house.

4. Bower, gazebo, or secluded place, often associated with a grotto or cave, artificial rock-work, or some other such construction in a C18 elegiac landscape.

Bibliography

Gwilt (1903);
W. Papworth (1852);
Symes (1993);
D. Watkin (1982a)