How about this as a remarkable feature for a neighborhood in the US?
Standing within a radius of about 400 feet of each other, five brick mansion houses have a combined age of about 1,250 years.
Don’t know where else that is the case, but it certainly is in Annapolis.
As seen on the two maps we prepared, five large brick Georgian mansions, each a National Historic Landmark, the highest honor, are located close together between the State House and the Naval Academy.
And the distinctions don’t stop there.
Three (Paca, Chase-Lloyd, Peggy Stewart) were the homes of Maryland Declaration of Independence signers. Three (Paca, Brice, Hammond-Harwood) are five-part (large center section flanked by hyphens and wings on each side). Two (Hammond-Harwood and Brice) have American Revolution connections.
In his book, “Annapolis Houses,” author Deering Davis heaps even more praise.
“During the decade, 1765-1775, six private dwellings were constructed in Annapolis which for sophistication of architectural design and superb detail both exterior and interior, reached a point of perfection scarcely equaled elsewhere on this continent before or since.”
With the coming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, this is a great time to put the spotlight on these homes. They were all built in those heady days in Annapolis when the colonies were coming together to resist British laws and the town was blossoming as a capital city and seaport.
Their construction was part of that period in the city that led to, as Jane W. Williams (“Annapolis, City on the Severn: A History”) put it,“the fulfillment of New World dreams.”
In 1768, 90 vessels arrived. In 1774, the figure was 269. The population and attendance at theaters and horse races surged. In 1771, George Washington was so enamored with Annapolis he lodged for eight days, dining with the likes of Charles Carroll, taking in four plays, and dancing at four balls. Born in Chester, Charles Wilson Peale (1741-1827) began his prolific career as a portraitist in Annapolis around this time. He would paint and become friends with Paca and Chase. Lawyers, craftsmen, elected officials, tavern keepers, and merchants benefitted from the prosperous times, while the enslaved and others did not.
Below is our five write-ups. Please note that, commensurate with the available sources, we provide more information on the residents than the houses themselves.
As far as visiting, the Paca House and Gardens is your best bet. Hammond-Harwood has some tours, but check the days and hours. The Brice House is being restored and will become a museum. The Chase-Lloyd is in a state of uncertain change. The Rutland House is private.
Rutland-Jenifer-Stone (Peggy Stewart) House
1761-1764
207 Hanover St.
At first we were tempted to not include this one in our look. It’s not quite as grand in size as the other four, is privately owned, and our map was getting crowded.
But this house was the first of the group to be built and has Revolution stories including one involving the burning of a ship and its British tea. It also brings Charles County into the fold, and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer just might be the coolest name ever.
Starting sometime between 1761 and 1764, a time when the colonists were not yet annoyed with Parliament, Thomas Rutland, an import merchant in Annapolis, financed this one.
Little is known about Rutland, but we certainly do know about the patriot who Rutland sold it to in 1772. Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer (1723-1790) was not a signer of the Declaration, but he distinguished himself during these years of Revolution, and signed the US Constitution. The book, “Shapers of the Great Debate at the Constitution,” quotes delegate William Pierce as describing him as “a gentleman who is always in good humor.” His portrait by John Hesselius (1728-1778) shows a robust figure with a confidant pose.
Jenifer was born at “Coates Retirement,” now known as Ellerslie (extant) near Port Tobacco. The NRHP form notes it is privately owned and is one of Charles County’s most important landmarks.
Note: I wondered how Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer got his name. Didn’t see anything on the web so I asked the park ranger at the Thomas Stone NPS site. He said one thought is the St Thomas part was put in to distinguish it from the other Daniel Jenifers. The St Thomas part comes from St Thomas Manor, the jurisdiction of the church in Port Tobacco. Daniel lived within that parish area.
Jenifer’s father, Dr. Daniel Jenifer, owned the property. Jenifer’s mother was Elizabeth Mason, a daughter of Robert Mason (1653-1700). Jenifer’s brother was Daniel Jenifer (1723-1790). Along with his partner Robert Townsend Hooe, Daniel Jenifer ran a merchant store in Alexandria from 1773 to 1778. They exported wheat, flour, and tobacco.
As noted by “Graves of our Founders,” little is known about Daniel’s childhood. He surely walked the short distance to the village of Port Tobacco many times, as it was less than a half mile from the family plantation house. Before silting doomed it, the seaport activity there was robust and Port Tobacco served as the county seat from 1727-1895.
Around 1766, Jenifer, who was never married, inherited Stepney, his father’s plantation near the South River south of Annapolis. He lived there for most of his life.
Like Chase, Stone, and Paca, Jenifer became a lawyer. He served in public office before the Revolution, helped secure aid during it, served as president of Maryland Senate in 1777, the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1782, a member of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and signed the US Constitution.
In March 1785, Jenifer, along with Thomas Stone, Samuel Chase, and George Mason, participated in the Mount Vernon Conference at Mount Vernon. Washington had been interested in seeing navigation and commerce flow along the Potomac. The Mount Vernon Compact as it was known, drew up a number of agreements. As the Mount Vernon website notes, the conference “helped set a precedent for discussions into areas of mutual concern amongst the states.”
Jenifer is mentioned in George Washington’s diary a number of times. Washington dined with him on September 29, 1771. Jenifer was living at Stepney at this time. Jenifer dined at Mount Vernon on November 21, 1771.
Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer moved to Annapolis in 1766 and acquired the house in 1772. That summer he sold it to Anthony Stewart, a merchant in Annapolis and British Loyalist who owned the cargo ship Peggy Stewart (named for his daughter).
In October, 1774, a mob in Annapolis forced Stewart to burn his ship and the British tea on it. Stewart fled in 1779 and his wife sold the dwelling back to Jenifer.
In 1783, Jenifer sold the house to Stone. After Stone passed away in 1787, Jenifer re-acquired the property. He lived there until his passing in 1790. In 1801, Jenifer’s executors sold the house to Thomas Harwood in 1801.
As noted by the National Register for Historic Places nomination form, the house was extensively remodeled in 1894, including its hipped roof and rebuilt chimneys. The interior has also undergone considerable remodeling.
Through the years, the house was substantially modified. The gable roof was replaced with a hipped roof. The interior was extensive remodeled.
Thomas Stone 1743-1787
In 1783, Jenifer sold the house to Thomas Stone (1743-1787), a lawyer, planter, delegate to the Continental Congress (1783-1784), and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. As mentioned, Stone was Jenifer’s nephew.
“Tales in the Tree” describes Stone as a “mild-mannered intellectual and pacifist who eventually sided with his fellow aristocrats.” He signed the Declaration and served on the committee that wrote Articles of Confederation in 1777.
Like Jenifer, Stone grew up (Poynton Manor) close to where the ships came in at Port Tobacco in Charles County. His grandfather was Thomas Stone, first proprietary governor of Maryland. Stone and Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer lived close to each other.
Like many others in this story, Stone was a planter, a part of the sad reality that kept their enslaved far, far away from any freedoms the colonial leaders in Virginia and Maryland desired and fought for.
Once again, "Graves of our Founders" gives us some of the best insight into the life of this founding father. He rode on his horse ten miles to be tutored in Latin and Greek, a young mind that would learn the facets of law from Thomas Johnson in Annapolis. Johnson (1732-1819) would go on to become a Delegate to the First Continental Congress and a Supreme Court Justice.
In 1768, Stone married Margaret Brown. Her father was Dr. Gustavus Brown (1747-1804), who studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and founded the Medical and Chirurgical Facility of Maryland in 1799. Brown attended to Washington in his final days. He lived at nearby Rose Hill. Rose Hill (built c. 1783 in brick in the five part Georgian-style), is extant and is a private home just south of the Thomas Stone house and site.
Stone was admitted to the bar in 1774. After a circuit practice that took him to Frederick and Annapolis, he opened an office in Port Tobacco. In the same year, he joined the Charles County Committee of Correspondence, which opposed British taxation. In 1775, Stone went to Philadelphia as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He signed the Declaration of Independence, along with Paca, Carroll, and Chase.
The Stone home is Haberdeventure or Habre de Venture. A marker at this historic house and site managed by the National Park Service notes Jenifer, Stone’s maternal uncle, influenced his political career. Thomas read law at the office of Thomas Johnson in Annapolis, was admitted to the bar in 1764. He helped to draft the Articles of Confederation.
In 1783, Jenifer sold the house in Annapolis to Stone (1743-1787). Margaret passed away in 1787 and Stone drew his last breathe just four months later. He was laid to rest at Habre de Venture.
When Stone passed away in 1787, Jenifer purchased it once again. He held it until his passing in 1790. His executors sold the house to Thomas Harwood in 1801. It later underwent extensive remodeling and has been a private residence. Four years later when Stone passed away, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer reacquired it and owned it until 1790.
Thomas Harwood acquired the property in 1801. The house, a private residence, was extensively remodeled in 1894.
William Paca House
186 Prince George St.
1765
Annapolis historian Jean B. Russo gives us a terrific bio of Paca. He (1740-1799) was born in the family home in Harford County and educated in Philadelphia. Paca read law with Stephen Bordley (1710-1764), a well-known barrister in Annapolis. Russo writes he absorbed the broadest eduction that the colonial world had to offer.
In 1763, Paca married into money. He and Mary Chew then began building their palatial mansion and extensive gardens.
Paca emerged during those heady days of participating in the cause of independence. Standing at six foot tall, he stood out in the city that would produce four signers of the Declaration of Independence. It's worth pointing out that Maryland is the only state in which the homes of all its signers of the Declaration of Independence are extant. A marker in Annapolis takes it one better and points out Annapolis is the only such city.
Along with his close friend and neighbor, Samuel Chase (1741-1811), Paca formed a Sons of Liberty chapter in Annapolis. At age 26, he was elected to the Common-Council of the capital city. It’s been written Paca preferred to take a back seat to others, but he was certainly a player in the hallowed halls of Revolution. Paca served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congress, and inked his name on the Declaration in July, 1776.
Paca dined with the Washingtons at Mount Vernon on July 23, 1774. President Washington appointed him as Judge of the US District Court in Maryland (1789-1799).
In terms of who would rise to positions of power, in the colonial era, birth order was a crucial factor. Typically, the first born son received all the benefits of primogeniture. For the others, marriage could elevate social standing.
In 1763, Paca married Mary Chew (1735-1774). Her grandfather, Colonel Lloyd, owned the Wye plantation on the Eastern Shore. Her wealth and familial connections allowed Paca, the second born, to complete the societal requirements of high-ranking gentry.
In 1765, the couple completed their new home just two blocks from where the new State House would rise up (completed 1779) overlooking the seaport. There was something very special about this part of the city. Where most towns and cities used the grid system, Annapolis was laid out with streets that radiated out from the circle around the hill-topped State House. A short walk down the hill and towards land that would become the Naval Academy, a handful of large brick Georgian mansions would rise up. The Paca House was one of the first completed and stretched out in its five-part plan.
As John Martin Hammond points out, “the interior of this house is not characterized by the elaborate ornamentation that distinguishes some other Annapolis homes.” Nevertheless, the property shines in its grand size and in the back yard.
Virginia and Maryland have been blessed with some lovely formal gardens built in the colonial era and the Paca’s put together one of them. Covering two acres, they consisted of four parterres — rose, flower, boxwood, and holly — a wilderness garden, a bridge, a pond, and a Summer House.
After Mary passed away in 1774, Paca, in 1780, moved to the Wye Island plantation on the Eastern Shore. He built Wye Hall, and drew his last breath there in 1799.
Subsequent occupants of the Paca House include Thomas Jennings (Maryland’s Attorney General). Before completing their Riversdale mansion in 1807, Henri Joseph Stier and his family, who had fled France during the French Revolution, rented the home. Their daughter, Rosalie, married George Calvert. The couple lived in Riversdale after Henri and his wife re-patriated.
In 1903, the Paca house was added on to and became Carvel Hall, a luxury hotel with 200 rooms. The house served as the lobby. Carvel Hall became the finest place to stay in Annapolis. As told by WMAR in Baltimore, part of the story was Marcellus Hall. He became the maitre d' and earned fame as a “bigger than life man” who was the first African-American to give guided tours in the city.
During the Carvel Hall era, the Paca House still stood tall, but the large gardens in the rear were covered by the additions, as well as a parking lot and a bus station.
It’s hard to believe now, but in the mid-60s, there was talk of demolishing not only the added on parts, but also the Paca House. One plan was for a high-rise office.
In 1965, Historic Annapolis came to the rescue and acquired the property. In order to try and find the gardens, the added on parts were demolished. Anne St. Clair Wright (1910-1993), daughter of a Rear Admiral and a beloved preservationist, raised $250,000 for the purchase of the house and land. Retired Marine Colonel William W. Paca (1896-1978), a descendant, was also active in the effort.
With no written records to pore through, the effort turned in part to a 1772 portrait of Paca by Charles Willson Peale. It shows a summer house and a trellis bridge in the gardens.
Archaeologists, including Thomas Cuddy, discovered the pond, canal, bridge, and outbuildings dating to Paca’s time. Experts fully restored the gardens and the house. Using money she received as the recipient of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual award, St. Clair Wright paid for the construction of the Chinese Chippendale Bridge. The house opened to the public in 1976.
Fritz Hahn (hat tip) recently included the Paca House in his article (“Need beauty? These are 7 of the most gorgeous gardens in the D.C. area.”) in The Washington Post.
Guided tours of the house are given, while tours of the garden are self-guided. Currently, part of the price of admission is an exhibition, "We Hold These Truths: Maryland’s Signers and the Declaration of Independence at the William Paca House and Garden.”
In her article covering the restoration (“A Grand House Restored,” The Washington Post (August 29, 1976), Sarah Booth Conway concluded by saying:
“The Paca House restoration is typical of the way Annapolis itself is being restored. Handsome historic buildings are courteously restored and are given the greatest tribute possible to age - a useful present.”
It all adds up to a wonderful place to visit.
Chase-Lloyd House
22 Maryland Avenue
1769-1774
Born in Somerset County, Samuel Chase was elected to the Maryland General Assembly in 1764. He became a lawyer in Annapolis and along with his friend William Paca, he co-founded the Annapolis chapter of Sons of Liberty. Chase represented Maryland in the Continental Congress. Like his fellow Marylanders —Charles Carroll, William Paca, and Thomas Stone — Samuel Chase inked his name on the Declaration of Independence.
In 1786, Chase moved to Baltimore. Appointed by President Washington, he served as Associate Justice of Supreme Court from 1796 to 1811. A blemish on his record was being impeached in 1804 by the US Senate, the charge of alleged political bias. He was acquitted on the charges and remains the only such justice of the highest robes to be impeached.
Chase began construction in 1769. Two years later, he ran out of money. He sold the not-fully-complete dwelling to Edward Lloyd IV, a planter in Talbot County. Williams writes it was Lloyd IV who persuaded master craftsman William Buckland to leave Virginia for Maryland in 1772 to finish the job. Williams also notes Buckland’s work here, “remains the most exquisite.”
Lloyd had married Elizabeth Tayloe, daughter of John Tayloe of Mount Airy (near Warsaw) in Virginia. In the 1780s, Lloyd, who served as a delegate to the Continental Congress for Maryland, constructed the Wye House across the bay in Talbot County. The great Frederick Douglass was enslaved there.
Lloyd hired Buckland (1734-1774) to finish the mansion. In the book, "The Groundbreakers," we learn more about Buckland. Born in Oxford, he came to America as an indentured servant to Thomson Mason, brother of George Mason. Gunston Hall was his first design. He worked on John Tayloe’s Mount Airy (“one of the finest Palladian houses in America”) and possibly Menokin.
In 1773, Buckland went to Annapolis, where he “emerged as the major architect of his time.” The Chase-Lloyd is one of the first three-story Georgian houses in America. Buckland “created a Palladian three-part doorway.” The composition was “highly unusual and rarely seen prior to the American Revolution.” The Palladian three-part window was also unusual. Buckland would design this one and the Hammond-Harwood house across the street.
The Chase-Lloyd is the only three-story high-style Georgian mansion in Annapolis. It was completed in 1774. As a marker notes, Buckland designed many of the interior features including the “magnificent cantilevered imperial staircase and elaborate decorative details.”
The National Historic Landmark forms writes:
“Its every detail evidences an effort to achieve the ultimate in magnificence. Among finest of three-story brick Georgian houses. Many original features remain. Interior richly ornamented. Decorative details matched by few other colonial houses.”
Francis Scott Key, who attended nearby St John’s College and the Lloyd’s daughter Mary Taylor Lloyd, were married here.
When Lloyd IV passed away, his son Edward Lloyd V inherited the mansion. Hammond writes it was the scene of many brilliant social entertainments. With Lloyd V elected Governor in 1809, the house became the Governor’s Mansion.
In 1826, Lloyd V sold the house to his son-in-law Henry Hall Harwood. In 1847, Miss Hester Ann Chase, daughter of Jeremiah T. Chase, acquired it. She willed it to her nieces, Matilda and Frances Chase.
Their surviving sister Hester Ann Chase Ridout (buried at Whitehall with her husband) inherited it. Her will and trust directed that the house be used for older, needy women. In 1889, The Chase Home was established. Some of the house hold items and “minor colonial relics” remained. Up until about 2022, it operated that way as a non-profit.
In his 1914 book, “Colonial Mansions of Maryland and Delaware,” John Martin Hammond gives us glimpses of the house in those days. Visitors wanting to see inside were not turned down. The garden was “not so orderly as it once was,” but “still showed the plan” from its first days.
In 1953, one year after Historic Annapolis was established, the home was opened to the public as part of an autumn tours program.
Now the house is in a state of uncertainty. On June 23, 2024, the Capital Gazette published an Editorial titled, “Let’s stay committed to welfare of disadvantaged women.” It was written by Elly Tierney, Annapolis, who represents Ward 1 on the City Council.
Among the things she pointed out are:
The Chase Home no longer operates as an independent living facility for women. Despite this change, the organization remains committed to its mission, albeit through different means. But this transition has left the Chase-Lloyd House vacant, raising critical questions about its future use and how best to honor Hester Chase Ridout’s legacy.
By embracing innovative solutions and staying true to Hester Chase Ridout’s vision, we can create a new chapter for the Chase Home — one that honors its rich history while addressing the urgent needs of today. Let’s seize this moment to make a lasting impact, proving that the spirit of the Chase Home is alive and capable of evolving to meet modern challenges.
Hammond-Harwood
19 Maryland Avenue
1774
1774. What a year across the colonies. After the British passed the Intolerable Acts, patriot ire led to documents such as the Fairfax Resolves in Alexandria and the burning of the Peggy Stewart in Annapolis.
Mathias Hammond (1748-1786) was not a signer of the Declaration, but he was a wealthy planter, a vestryman of St. Anne’s Parish, and was part of the patriotic fire in Annapolis.
His older brother, John Hammond built Acton Hall. The Society of Architectural Historians tell us it features an unusual octagonal configuration for the rear facade, and that Mathias used the same approach.
And, with William Buckland as his designer, he built one of the largest houses in the city.
In 1773, Hammond represented Annapolis as delegate to Maryland General Assembly. A year later Hammond hired architect William Buckland for the design. As noted at our write up on the Chase-Lloyd House, Buckland had finished the design of that house across the street.
Author and Annapolis historian Jean Russo writes a terrific bio on Hammond (The Hammond-Harwood Association, 1992). She tells us he assumed his first major civil role in April 1773 when he was chosen as a vestryman for the St. Anne’s Parish, which had been established in 1692. Among the other vestrymen was William Paca, his neighbor. In May, Hammond and Paca began to serve as delegates for Annapolis to the General Assembly.
Then came 1774. Not only was it a landmark year across the colonies, but also in Annapolis. All five homes in his part of the city were either completed or nearly finished. Hammond hired William Buckland.
Meanwhile, patriot fire was burning hot in Annapolis. As Russo writes, from June 1774 to August 1774, Hammond was increasingly involved in the movement toward revolution and independence through his service in five conventions. These extra-legal bodies were pushing the envelope of breaking away from the British rule and becoming a form of government.
As mentioned in our discussion of the Rutland/Jenifer/Stone (Peggy Stewart) House, Anthony Stewart’s ship the Peggy Steward was burned. As Russo puts it, it was because the cargo included tea on which the tax had been paid, in violation of the non-importation agreement. Hammond was one of the leaders of the “radical group” that forced Stewart to set fire to his vessel.
While Paca and Chase would continue their patriotic service, Hammond ended his in August 1775. It seems he retreated to Howard’s Adventure, his plantation home in Gambrills, and chose not to live in the grand mansion he built.
Some have suggested the reason was his bride to be from Philadelphia eloped with someone else. Russo writes that there is no documentary evidence to support this folklore. She does point out that it is unusual he never married.
The Hammond-Harwood website notes this house is the only structure with both the interior and exterior designed by Buckland. He worked on it until his passing. His apprentice John Randall completed the dwelling. The National Register for Historic Places form notes it is “a colonial masterpiece.”
The Groundbreakers notes the front door is an extraordinarily carved piece.
Deering heaps praise on the Hammond-Harwood House, writing it is "without a doubt one of the finest medium sized houses of the world." He also tells us Buckland’s granddaughter, Sarah Callahan, married Richard Harwood, and became mistress of the house.
Charles Willson Peale’s portrait of Buckland shows a sketch of this house beside him. Hammond never lived in it, instead remaining at his plantation house in Gambrills.
After Mathias Hammond’s passing, the house stayed in the family until Ninian Pickney acquired it in 1810. In 1811, Jeremiah Townley Chase bought the house for his daughter Frances and her husband Richard Loockerman. They lived there until 1924.
Hester Ann Harwood, a granddaughter of Frances Chase Lockerman, and daughter of William Harwood, was the final owner. After she passed, some of the furniture was sold.
In November, 1927, The Washington Post reported that ten rare pieces of early American furniture, placed in 1774 by Hammond, was donated by Francis P. Garvin of New York. They included six Chippendale chairs.
St. John’s College acquired the house in 1926. They began a decorative arts program there and opened it as a museum. The Hammond-Harwood website tells us it was the first of its kind in the US.
In 1940, the Hammond-Harwood Association bought the house. They offer tours. A marker there points out it is home to one of the nation's premier decorative and fine arts collections.
The Hammond-Harwood House is celebrating its 250th birthday with a series of events starting August 14.
James Brice House
42 East Street
Note: The James Brice House is currently closed due to restoration.
1767-1774
Archives of Maryland gives us the best look at the life of James Brice (1746-1801). Born in Annapolis, he earned income as a planter and a lawyer.
Brice was not a signer, but served as a colonel in the Maryland militia in 1779, as well as an Annapolis alderman, Mayor, treasurer, state Senator, and acting governor in 1792. The will of his father, John Brice (1705-1766), directed the building of a house in the city.
Williams calls him the anomaly of the group of Paca, Chase and Hammond, in that the foundation and plans for his mansion were the dying gift of his father, and he completed the house while still unmarried.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation wrote an article on the five-part Palladian house in 2018. They tell us that Brice meticulously documented the construction of his house in a leather-bound book. To the delight of historians and preservationists, a volunteer archivist discovered the book in 1971. Specific details of house constructions are sometimes hard to know. In this case, it started April, 1767 and was completed in 1774.
Historic Annapolis gives us the ownership timeline. The Brice family owned it until the 1870s. The Martin family then acquired, followed by the owners of the Carvell Hall Hotel in 1911.
St John’s College acquired the house in 1927 and converted it to faculty apartments. In 1953, Stanley and Helen Wohl then became owners. In 1979, the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftsmen purchased the house.
John Martin Harwood ("Colonial Mansions of Maryland and Delaware") also wrote about the house. He calls this one “unquestionably the most magnificent colonial home in Annapolis.”
The NRHP summary points out the Brice House “lacks the embellishments of Palladian pavilions and classic pediment, but the boldness and simplicity of its masses and its imposing scale make it one of the most impressive brick buildings in American Georgian architecture.
The Society of Architectural Historians notes: "Its clean, bold simplicity and imposing scale set it apart as one of colonial Maryland’s great houses."
They add:
"The ballroom is one of the great rooms of the Georgian period, and features a carved wood fireplace with exceptionally ornate lateral consoles flanking the opening, an ornamented frieze, and an eared overmantel panel."
In 2014, the State of Maryland acquired the house. Historic Annapolis has been restoring it using experts who have worked on Mount Vernon and Monticello. As their blog notes, it will become a museum, open on a regular basis for the first time.
Historic Annapolis points out:
"the house holds the potential to go beyond the traditional historic house museum to tell a greater story, which will emphasize both the contribution of those who toiled to make the structure what is was in 1774, and highlight the skills of a new generation of builders, conservators and technicians who will restore the house to its former glory. Nowhere else in Maryland can a similar story be told in such depth and richness as here at the James Brice House."
That last sentence is a bold statement, but from what we have seen with these five houses, they add up to to something very special in this great city.
We thank those who have preserved these homes through the years and continue to do so. They stand as sentinels to the past, and will help us better understand the events of 250 years ago.
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