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Wye Hall
Inventory No.:
QA-124
Date Listed:
11/2/2015
Location:
505 Wye Hall Drive, Queenstown, Queen Annes County
Category:
Building
Period/Date of Construction:
1792, 1879, 1938
Architect/Builder:
Designer: Joseph Clark (1792)
Landscape Architect: Luke O'Dio (1792)
Architect: Tilden, Register & Pepper (1937)
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Description:
Wye Hall is a large, five-part Georgian Revival country house, constructed in 1937 on the surviving foundation and landscape terraces of a grand mansion built in 1792 for William Paca (1740-1799), signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Maryland. The property is located on the eastern side of Wye Island in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. Also on the property are a smoke house dating from Paca's occupation, a reconstructed 18th-century stable/carriage house, and several other domestic and agricultural outbuildings representing various periods. The terrace platform on which the house stands is especially noteworthy, having remained intact from Paca's original construction, and having been the subject of extensive archeological investigation. The property retains an exceptionally high degree of integrity. William Paca built his retirement home on Wye Island, a 1400-acre plantation he inherited from his first wife, Mary Chew (d. 1774). He began this project around 1792 by first commissioning Joseph Clark to execute a design for a new house appropriate to the Post Revolutionary era. At the same time he commissioned Luke O'Dio, a landscape designer, to plan the terraces on which the house was to stand. The site for the new house may have been on or near an earlier structure on the east side of the plantation, bordering Wye Narrows, but that site has not been confirmed. The original brick house was a five-part neoclassical style Country House designed to illustrate Paca's prominence. The earthwork terrace on which the house stood was created through the efforts of slaves Paca had at his disposal (he owned over 100 slaves at the time). The large terraces are 319' long by 184' wide by 6'6" high and 251' long by 264' wide by 8'. The terraces run north to south in a rectangular shape and are located on both front and back of the mansion. Facing south, the semicircular upper terrace echoed the design of the semicircular front porch. The earth terraces are the most identifiable aspects of the property as belonging to William Paca, signer of the Declaration of Independence and Governor of Maryland. The large terraces are much different than the garden he established behind his Annapolis House in the 1760s. The north and south terraces are not continuous but have an hourglass plan that is defined by the east and west sides of the two wings. This arrangement provides the wings a basement level with access to grade. The original house burned in 1879 but was remodeled using standing walls and some foundations following plans drawn by James Crawford Nielson, an architect from Baltimore. That house stood between 1860 and 1936 in a gradually deteriorating condition, until the property was sold to a wealthy businessman from Chicago & New York, Wellesley H. Stillwell. A new five-part brick Georgian Revival mansion designed in 1937 by the Philadelphia firm of Tilden, Register and Pepper replaced the old house. It was constructed in the same location as the original building using foundations from that house and commanding the same presence as the original. The terrace created by Paca remained essentially unchanged and thus survives from 1792. A smokehouse remained from the Paca period as well as a stable/carriage house. The latter was the first building to be restored/rebuilt in 1937 based upon its original size and design with unique circular windows on the upper level. A new brick pump house was constructed near the old smokehouse at the east end of the mansion. Mr. Stilwell owned the property until 1946.
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Significance:
Wye Hall is historically significant for its association with the American Country House movement of the 1930s. The 18th-century house had suffered a major fire and subsequent rebuilding in the late 19th century; it was in deteriorated condition when it was acquired in 1936 by businessman Wellesley H. Stillwell. Stillwell engaged the Philadelphia architectural firm of Tilden, Register and Pepper to design an elaborate five-part Georgian Revival mansion, which utilized the surviving foundation of the 1792 house. This building campaign also involved the reconstruction of the original Stable/Carriage House according to architectural and documentary evidence. The property derives significance for its association with William Paca, one of Maryland's four signers of the Declaration of Independence, who was active in drawing up the early laws of the Nation (1792). Paca served three terms as Governor of Maryland after the Revolutionary War. The original Wye Hall was constructed by Paca as his retirement residence. Even before its construction, Paca's property on Wye Island served as his part-time residence and as a depot where Revolutionary supplies could be stored and picked up without interference from the British forces. Built elements of the property that reflect Paca's occupation include the earthwork terraces and the 18th-century foundations incorporated into the 1937 mansion. Wye Hall is architecturally significant as a representative example of a type of building that characterized the country residences of wealthy Americans during the 1930s period. The mansion is an exceptionally well-preserved example of its type, designed by a prominent Philadelphia architectural firm whose projects included numerous elaborate suburban and country residences. Surviving 18th-century architectural elements and landscape features reflect the involvement of Joseph Clark, a designer responsible for some of the improvements to the Maryland State House during Paca's tenure as Governor, and Luke O'Dio, an English landscape architect of the period, who designed a large terrace that created an elevated position on an otherwise flat terrain. The creation of terraces on both principal sides of the house appears to be a unique feature in the 18th-century architecture of the region. Finally, the property derives significance for the archeological investigations of the landscape and terraces, which contributed to the understanding of landscape organization and enslaved labor during the 18th century.
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