The exterior of the palace exhibits something new in our study: a three-part layout design, diagrammed in figure 72. Above in the diagram the three structures are arranged: kitchen--PALACE--stables. Other outbuildings which, of course, were present are hidden in the first and main view of the palace. This is quite different from the disposition of the outbuildings at the Palmer-Marsh house (figure 9), where they are found informally situated at one side of the house.
At the middle of the diagram depicting the Tryon structure, the long façade of the palace building is shown broken into three parts: wing--CENTRAL BLOCK--wing. The central block is crowned with a pediment and is advanced slightly forward. The Palmer house also has six windows and a central door, but the builder of this earlier structure did not have the idea of breaking or articulating a long wall as in the palace.
Below in the diagram, the central block of the palace shows window--DOOR--window. That door, crowned with pediment, is the ultimate focal point.
As one contemplates this three-part idea for dividing a length of wall, or for grouping separate structures, the system seems to express an "intelligence" in the architecture--the door or middle unit being a head or center of serene intelligence and the symmetrical side units being arms or body. This design idea was not introduced into the colonies via the palace; the palace merely demonstrates the idea which became so attractive to later 18th-century builders.
The two pediments referred to above--a big one above and a small one over the door below--are not mere gables of the sort seen earlier. Instead, they are complete, three-sided pediments similar to those found on classical temples. They are a sign of a rising interest in classical art, fostered by archaeological studies in the 18th century. Classical buildings also contained ideas of sober mass and order which impressed those who lived in the late 18th century.
It should be observed that the cornices of all three buildings continue uninterruptedly around corners, marking a firm top for the lower part of the buildings which appear as great boxes. Further, as all the buildings have hipped roofs which retreat on all sides, the colonial man and woman in the picture, as they come near a building, do not see a roof at all. This image is in contrast with the earlier architecture with huge, steep roofs sitting like massive hats on the buildings, and with gable ends rising to sharp points in the sky, along with their protruding chimneys. At the palace, chimneys do not disturb the calm surface of a rectangular wall, and roofs are hidden as though one is ashamed of them.