Car Rentals Annapolis

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• Hammond-Harwood House
  The Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Maryland is one of the best examples of colonial homes that are left in the nation from the British colonial period that went from 1607 to 1776. Presently it is the single remaining building from the colonial academic architectural period that had been designed from a plate from Andrea Palladio's I Quattro Libri dell'Architettura, 1570, the Four Books of Architecture. Designed in 1773 by William Buckland for rich farmer Matthias Hammond of Anne Arundel County, Maryland, it was modeled after the Villa Pisani in Montagnana, Italy that was shown in Book II, Chapter XIV of the above mentioned book. The building of the house started in 1774, and most of the house had been built by the end of the year, when the architect passed on. Hammond is doubted to have lived here since he went to his family's estate in 1776, and died in 1786, after renting the home for all those years. His nephews, John and Philip Hammond were the beneficiaries, and later sold the home to Ninian Pinkney in 1810. Pinkney turned around and sold the property to Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase in 1811; who had purchased it for his daughter, Frances Townley Chase Loockerman; since he had lived there in the late 1770s. The judge's descendants stayed here until his great granddaughter, Hester Ann Harwood passed on in 1924. Hester had been the wife of William Harwood, the great grandson of William Buckland, the architect of the house. After she passed on, the house was sold to St. John's College, which used the home in turn for one of the nation's first decorative arts course. In 1940, because of financial difficulties, the house was sold to the Hammond-Harwood House Association, which turned the estate into a museum and still owns it.  This home is ranked architecturally with numerous great mansions that had been constructed in the latter colonial era, but it is the only house that was built from a plate, and is considered by many to be the most elaborate home of that era. Buckland was ingenious enough to adapt the designs of the plate to the tastes of the period in Annapolis, and used many clever modifications to make the entire home more fashionable and accommodating to the times. Thomas Jefferson's house design had been taken from the Book II, but it was from Chapter XV, although the front facade was later changed when he expanded the house. It was a feature on Bob Vila's A & E network production, Guide to Historic Homes of America. It is a five-part brick house containing a five bay two story central block, two story wings, and one story connecting hyphens on both sides. The center block contains a shallow hipped roof and the wings stick out to the street with three sided hipped roof bays. The only ornamentation on the exterior is in the center bay, where the door is framed by Ionic columns and over that is a fanlight. The inside gives the appearance of symmetry, but it isn't, using false doors to create that illusion.

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• Chase Lloyd House
  The Chase-Lloyd House, also in Annapolis, Maryland is brick and three stories, a Georgian mansion that was built in 1769, with its interiors designed by William Buckland. The construction began for Samuel Chase, who eventually signed the Declaration of Independence, and was an associate justice of the Supreme Court. He sold the unfinished house to Edward Lloyd IV in 1771, who went on to finish the house with the help of architects William Buckland and William Noke. It was owned by the Lloyd family until 1847, whereupon it was sold back to the descendants of Samuel Chase. The house was bequeathed in 1888 for usage as a home for elderly women, and has continued to be used for this purpose even today. The upper floors cannot be seen or visited, but the main floor and the magnificent gardens are open to the public. The house sits over a tall basement, and is 54 feet wide by 43 feet deep. The walls are 18 inches thick, being coated with Flemish bond and belt courses of rubbed brick on the second and third floors. Frontage is accentuated by a central three bay wide projection pavilion. The plan of the house is for four rooms, with center hallway and the front entrance has a screen of free standing Ionic columns, behind which are the stairs which also are centered and going up to a big Palladian window on the landing. The interior ceilings showcase plaster moldings, like those used by Robert Adam, and the woodwork, especially the door frames are exquisitely carved. The interior doors are six paneled mahogany containing wrought-silver handles, with the most spectacular woodwork being located in the dining room; which unfortunately has lost its original ceiling. The kitchen had been in the basement when first built, and it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970; and a National Register of Historic Places listing the same year. The Hammond-Harwood house is located right across the street, making this a splendid area for walking the sidewalks and enjoying the magnificent architecture of yesteryear.

January 11, 2011