The two- story brick home at White Banks was built in 1969. The dwelling is situated on 270 acres of woodlands and fields on the Chester River with a 30-acre open space for the house and out buildings. (Photo courtesy Maryland Home and Garden Pilgrimage)
The Maryland Home and Garden Pilgrimage comes to Queen Anne’s County on May 13, making 11 stops at some of the area’s most historic homes and landmarks.
Established in 1937, the mission of the Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage is to preserve and to support the restoration of architecturally and historically significant properties throughout the state of Maryland.
Tour proceeds are disbursed to specific preservation and/or restoration projects in each county that conducts a tour.
Along with several homes, tour stops include the Queenstown Colonial Court House, the Queen Anne’s County Court House in Centreville the restored Kenard High School and the Church Hill Theater.
Homes on the tour represent the variety of styles and historic living in the county. At Bowlingly, the historic Flemish Bond, Georgian center hall colonial was constructed in 1733 on a bluff overlooking Queenstown Creek.
The original house is a two-story brick structure that is seven bays long and one room deep, with flush brick chimneys at either end of the pitched gable roof.
The two-story brick home at White Banks was built in 1969. The dwelling is situated on 270 acres of woodlands and fields on the Chester River with a 30-acre open space for the house and out buildings.
The house was renovated in 1999 and an addition was completed in 2021.
The design of the house at Strothe Farm was inspired by the five-part Colonial Maryland house structure and chosen for the same reasons it was popular 300 years ago: It creates opportunities to maximize day-lighting and natural ventilation, and the layout of the house enables the creation of multiple outdoor spaces on a blank plane.
Wright’s Chance was built circa 1744 and still has its original paneling and glass windows.
The house was moved to its current location in the mid-1960s as the second museum house of the Queen Anne’s County Historical Society.
The house continues to be maintained by the historical society. The two-story structure is one room deep and two rooms wide with a central hallway and large fireplace. A gambrel roof provided for living space upstairs.
The James Croney House, built in 1794, is one of the earliest documented buildings in the Historic Downtown District.
It is a brick, two and one-half story house and an excellent example of the two-room house plan that enjoyed considerable popularity in Centreville in the Federal Period when the early town was developed.
Tucker House, built circa 1794 by James Kennard, is a six-room house with six fireplaces connected to one main chimney.
Built on the second lot to be sold in Centreville, Tucker House stands as a great architectural example of the Federal Period.
Originally the house was two rooms deep and one room wide and its value was assessed at $867 in 1797.
Lansdowne, also known as Upper Deale or Lansdowne Farm, is a historic home and farm complex built in the late 1700s.
The Federal-period brick dwelling includes a large barn, granary and several outbuildings.
The house was built in two distinct periods. The earliest house dates to the late colonial period and is a two-story, brick house, three bays wide and two rooms deep, with a single flush chimney on each gable.
It is attached to a larger, Federal-period house built in 1823. The later house is brick, two and one-half stories high, and was built directly adjoining the west gable of the earlier structure.
Tickets for the tour may be purchased in advance for $35 each, plus processing fee, through the MHGP headquarters or online at www.mhgp.org.
Attendees are urged to print out their e-mail confirmation sheet and bring it to the first site visited to exchange for a ticket. Individual houses may be visited for $20 each.
Tickets may be bought for $40 on the day of the tour at any of the stops.
