Wikipedia
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 17991800. 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 purcheased 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.