Mur: St. Richard's is located on Millstone Landing Road in California, MD .... off MD 235. The house is near the Patuxent River; near the end of this road. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. "Inventory of Historic Sites in Calvert County, Charles County and St. Mary's County" [rev. ed. 1980] by the Maryland Historical Trust lists St. Richard's Manor as site # SM-5. The house is dated to "early 18th century." Almost no standing building in St. Mary's County dates to the 17th century. All sorts of buildings are claimed to be 17th century; almost none are. Early-on writers confused the date of the patent w/ the date of the house/building itself. Many dates were established in the 1920s & 1930s, before historical archaeological really got off the ground. Once researchers could really study buildings, many 17th century houses turned out to have been built in the period 1820-1850. This upset a lot of people. Some property owners threatened law suits .... things radically changed starting in the 1970s, when the datings made in the 1930s were put to more modern standards. One of the worse sources of inaccurate information are tourist brochures; next would be newspaper articles & items such as commemorative plates & the like. Dating of historic buildings is a serious study. Tourist stuff often pull dates out of thin air .... saying a house was built in 1640 sounds better than saying it was built in 1830. BACK TO THE BOOK ..... SM-5 St. Richard's Manor "Although this interesting building has lost much of its original interior furnishings, the basic structure remains well preserved. {By "furnishings," they don't mean "furniture." They mean moldings, doors, window frames - that sort of thing.} "Constructed of brick laid in Flemish bond, the house is 1 1/2 stories tall. The north facade is five bays in length with the existing windows being a slight alteration of the originals both in height and width; the south facade of the house is three bays wide. One of the most distinctive exterior features of the house is the glazed checkering of the end elevations. The floor plan consists of two large front rooms and two smaller rear end rooms separated by a short rear stair hall. All of the four first floor fireplaces are set cater-cornered to the room." This book doesn't go much into the history of the various sites. It is mostly architectural descriptions of the buildings. This house is a private residence. You probably can take pictures from the road. You might contact the National Register of Historic Places at the U. S. Department of the Interior & see if you can get copies of the nomination sheets submitted for St. Richard's. The fact that it was accepted & listed shows that the house is thought to be "important." Ditto; you might contact the Maryland Historical Trust. I think there are now located in Crownsville, Anne Arundel County. Contact the St. Mary's County Historical Society in Leonardtown, also. David David Roberts Hollywood, MD ----- Original Message ----- From: <mur10195@aol.com> To: <mdstmary@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, September 19, 2008 11:03 AM Subject: [MDSTMARY] St. Richard's > Would someone tell me, please, where the Manor House of St. Richard's is?? I have a plate recently given to me by a dear friend which depicts this house, and on the back it reads, "This house, which is structurally unchanged, was built at the end of the 17th century on the 1000 acres on the Patuxent River patented Dec. 6, 1640 to Richard Gardiner, Gent., by Lord Baltimore."? I'm descended from this Richard Gardiner and would like to visit the house.? Is it open to the public and are we allowed to take pictures?? We'll be home in October and hoped to be able to visit the house. > > Thank you! > Mur Hiltenbrand > Colorado > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MDSTMARY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >