The estate covers 500 acres and borders the Potomac River.
It’s hard to believe that a house built before America was even a country would still be standing, let alone put up for sale. But so is a formal mansion, a cultural and architectural time capsule, built in 1755 on farmland along the Potomac River in Maryland.
Mulberry fields Leonardtown is more than just a mansion. There are more than a dozen dwellings, cabins and barns on the property (some historic, some added on) on what was a thriving plantation in the 18th century. With the buildings, the property spans 500 acres with a majestic driveway of cedar trees on the south side that leads to a mile of white sand river beach.
Dating from the 18th century, the mansion remains an architectural time capsule.
The manor and property have remained in the hands of the current owners’ family for over a century. The asking price is $30 million.
Mulberry Fields has the only remaining Georgian-style house in “an area that once had several such structures,” according to the National Register of Historic Places. The former plantation was listed on the historic register in 1973.
A driveway lined with cedars and equipped with a split-rail fence leads to the various structures on the site.
Outside, a tree-lined driveway leads to the house which features an Annapolis-style facade. But it is the riverside entrance on the south side that deserves the most attention: a large central door with two large windows on each side (in the past, you could arrive by boat). Around 1820, an elaborate two-story portico with long Doric columns was added.
Inside, much of the original woodwork, moldings and mantels remain intact. For example, raised rectangular panel walls extend to the ceiling of the first floor great room and dining room.
Historic details include much of the original woodwork.
There are three bedrooms on the second floor and three that make up the entire third floor. Modern additions include a kitchen, four full and one half bathrooms, and air conditioning.
The house is flanked by two independent period buildings: the kitchen, which has been converted into a guest house, and the weaving house, which retains its original partitions, floors, doors and clapboard hardware. Both have pointed roofs and brick facades. These “outbuildings,” or outbuildings, once housed slaves who served as cooks, stable servants, servants, and housekeepers.
The multiple fireplaces were once the only sources of heating.
Other buildings on the property include a dairy, smokehouse, shed, garden/tool shed, several animal and equipment barns, one of which has been renovated, a farmhouse and a former dwelling.
It’s not hard to imagine a modern lifestyle on the land, with bonfires on the riverside beach, walks in the fields and woods, and entertainment in the historic Great Hall.
Paneled walls surround the formal dining room.
The house was built by John Attaway Clarke and eventually passed to his nephew, William Somerville, who had a workforce of slaves working in the fields growing corn, wheat, flax and ownership eventually passed to his son, William Clarke Somerville, the house’s most notable owner, who distinguished himself while serving as a major in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812.
Somerville traveled Europe and rubbed shoulders with the poet Lord Byron, the famous British Duke of Wellington and the Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American War of Independence in his youth. He received a diplomatic appointment to Greece by then-President John Quincy Adams, but died en route at Lafayette’s home.
One of the historic buildings is used as an art studio.
The property passed through several hands before passing to the current owners, who have architectural plans and approvals to renovate the kitchen and bathrooms as well as the addition of a new wing on the west side of the house.
Current rentals on the site generate income of $70,000. The property can accommodate up to 12 rental units. Revenue also comes from agriculture and the U.S. Navy, which maintains a navigation signal on the river.
The two brick buildings near the mansion were used for cooking, weaving and housing slaves. … [+]
On the buyers’ side, the owners hope the property will go to someone who will protect the historic gem. “The owners and their families for generations have been instrumental in preserving the history of the place and not destroying it with renovations here and there,” says the listing agent. Kornélia Stuphan from Long & Foster Real Estate. “We would like it to be preserved. We hope for a historic trust or foundation. Whoever buys Mulberry Fields will have purchased a rare piece of American history.
Mulberry Fields is located at 19700 Mulberry Fields Road in Leonardtown, Maryland.
The facade of the manor, facing the river, welcomed visitors arriving by boat.
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