I finally made it to Baltimore County's most famous historical monument, Hampton Mansion. The property is now run by the National Park Service.
The main house was constructed in 1783 to 1790 by Captain Charles Ridgely, one of the richest men in America; when finished, this may have been the largest private house in the new nation. The design is supposed to have been inspired by
Howard Castle. Famous guest include Charles Carroll and the Marquis de Lafayette.
The Captain was the second of seven Ridgelys to own the property, a run that extended from 1745 to 1948. Their money came from farming – at one point the estate was 10,000 acres – stone quarries, and the iron business. They had iron ore mines, coal mines, and a furnace, which is now under Loch Raven Reservoir but peaks out at low water.
View of the house from the rear, up from the terraced garden.
Plan of the property made in 1843, recording many now-vanished buildings.
Eliza Ridgely posing with a harp in 1818, by Thomas Sully.
What really fascinated me about the place was the outbuildings, most of them built of stone in an identical style. I had to look these up to figure out that they were the stables; why are they so tall?
Even the random sheds are lovely.
Fascinating Dairy, dug into the ground over a spring. Water flowing through the sunken room cooled the milk.
This strange building has at least four sections built at different times, one of which may have been standing on the property when the Ridgelys bought it in 1745. After the mansion was built this served as the overseer's residence.
View of the farm complex. The overseer's house is to the left, and the stone buildings to the right are slave quarters built around 1850. They are eerily similar to the ones John Custis had built at Arlington in Virginia.
The Quarters from the northeast.
Ruined greenhouses. A delightful place to explore.
2 comments:
What really fascinated me about the place was the outbuildings, most of them built of stone in an identical style. I had to look these up to figure out that they were the stables; why are they so tall?
Given details the size of the property, my initial thought was to assume the second level is a hayloft, potentially with other storage as well. More of a "barn", as we'd think of it in America.
That said... looking around online, I've found pictures which show some museum pieces kept in "Stable #1" as they call it, including entire carriages, tack, etc. Rather than a stable, or even a barn, maybe it's actually a "carriage house" - which, I am reading, often had two stories, with the second floor usually devoted to staff quarters.
Unrelated, but didn't John wonder just recently when somebody was going to sue an AI for just this?
https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/26/tech/openai-chatgpt-teen-suicide-lawsuit
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