Paca House and Garden

Paca House and Garden
Pubdog (talk) · Public domain · source
Name	Paca House and Garden
Caption	Paca House and Garden
Location	143 South Street, Annapolis, Maryland
Built	1763–1765
Architect	Thomas Lancaster
Architecture	Georgian
Governing body	Historic Annapolis, Inc.
Designation1	National Historic Landmark

Paca House and Garden Paca House and Garden is an 18th-century Georgian townhouse and formal garden in Annapolis, Maryland, associated with the statesman William Paca, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The property exemplifies colonial Chesapeake architecture and early American landscape design, and is owned and operated by Historic Annapolis, Inc. as a museum and cultural site. It is designated a National Historic Landmark and contributes to the Annapolis Historic District and the broader story of Maryland in the Revolutionary era.

History

Constructed between 1763 and 1765 for William Paca after his marriage to Mary Chew, the house was designed during a period when Annapolis served as the capital of Province of Maryland and hosted figures from the American Revolution such as Charles Carroll of Carrollton and Samuel Chase. After Paca's death, ownership passed through members of the Paca family, the Latrobe family, and the Wynkoop family, intersecting with regional narratives including the War of 1812 and antebellum Maryland politics. In the 19th century the property was altered amid urban changes in Annapolis and later restored in the 20th century by preservationists influenced by the Colonial Revival movement and organizations like Historic Annapolis Foundation and Maryland Historical Trust. The site’s recognition as a National Historic Landmark links it to initiatives by the National Park Service and the National Register of Historic Places.

Architecture and Design

The townhouse reflects Georgian principles associated with architects such as Thomas Jefferson's contemporaries and pattern-book influences from Batty Langley and James Gibbs, featuring a symmetrical five-bay façade, Flemish bond brickwork, and a hipped roof with dormers. Interior organization follows a center-hall plan common to Colonial architecture in the Chesapeake Bay region, with elaborate woodwork, molded chair rails, and bolection panels reminiscent of work by artisans influenced by Samuel McIntire and English carvers trained in the tradition of Grinling Gibbons. The house contains period staircases, mantels, and decorative plaster that echo motifs popularized in London and adapted in Philadelphia and Charleston. Structural and decorative elements connect the site to broader networks of colonial trade, including materials shipped via the Atlantic slave trade and the port economy centered on Annapolis Harbor and Chesapeake Bay commerce.

Garden and Landscaping

The formal garden at the rear exemplifies mid-18th-century Anglo-American horticultural practice influenced by designers such as Andre Le Nôtre via British interpretations and later restorations guided by research into period planting plans from places like Mount Vernon, Monticello, and Gunston Hall. The garden’s axial layout, boxwood parterres, brick pathways, and reflecting pool align with trends seen at estates owned by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the Lee family (Virginia). Landscape elements include heritage plantings, espaliered fruit trees, and an orangerie concept akin to structures at Hampton National Historic Site and Stratford Hall. Archaeobotanical and documentary research by scholars associated with Smithsonian Institution and Maryland Historical Trust informed the garden’s reconstruction, linking horticultural history to botanical networks like the Royal Society and colonial nurseries in Philadelphia.

Collections and Interior Furnishings

The house contains a curated collection of 18th-century and early 19th-century furnishings, textiles, silver, and ceramics that resonate with objects held at institutions such as the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts, Winterthur Museum, Colonial Williamsburg, and the Maryland Historical Society. Highlights include period upholstered seating, a wing chair style related to examples in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum, needlework linked to the work of colonial craftswomen documented by the Winterthur Library, and case furniture attributed to regional joiners whose apprentices may have worked in workshops influenced by John Shaw Sr. and John Shaw Jr.. Decorative arts in the collection illustrate trade connections with Lund's imports from London, Delftware ties to Amsterdam, and Chinese export porcelain reaching Annapolis via Atlantic mercantile networks.

Preservation and Restoration

Preservation efforts in the 20th and 21st centuries involved collaboration among Historic Annapolis, Inc., the National Park Service, the Maryland Historical Trust, and academic partners from University of Maryland, College Park and St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe). Restoration work applied standards set by the Secretary of the Interior and conservation techniques shared with professionals at Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library and the Winterthur Museum conservation lab. Structural stabilization, historic paint analysis, and garden archaeology were conducted using methodologies promoted by the Association for Preservation Technology International and publications from the Society of Architectural Historians. The property’s stewardship engages volunteer programs similar to practices at Montpelier and outreach partnerships with regional museums and archives including the Peabody Institute and Maryland Center for History and Culture.

Public Access and Cultural Programs

Open to the public as a historic house museum, the site offers guided tours, educational programs for schools in cooperation with Anne Arundel County Public Schools, lectures featuring scholars from Johns Hopkins University, seasonal events paralleling programming at Mount Vernon and Colonial Williamsburg, and special exhibitions curated with partners such as the Library of Congress and the Maryland State Archives. Community engagement includes concerts in collaboration with the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, reenactments involving groups like the Maryland Society of Colonial Families, and workshops in historic gardening that draw on expertise from the U.S. Botanic Garden and Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Visitor services coordinate with Visit Annapolis and state tourism initiatives by Maryland Office of Tourism to integrate the house into broader cultural routes connecting sites such as St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe), Ego Alley, and the U.S. Naval Academy.

Category:Historic house museums in Maryland Category:National Historic Landmarks in Maryland