Charles Carroll House

As part of the Maryland Day weekend celebrations, lots of historic places were open for free or for $1, so we decided to visit a couple that we hadn't yet seen. First up - Charles Carroll house.
Charles Carroll - the only catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence, had a large house in Annapolis. It was home to three Charles Carrolls - the Settler (1706), of Annapolis (1720) and of Carrollton (1770), so it is a really interesting example of old renovations, as the house grew. The Carrolls were all seriously wealthy people. The house in Annapolis was probably the country home, because they had a house in Baltimore, and presumably lots of tobacco farms.
It was the last Charles - Charles Carroll of Carrollton, who signed the Declaration. Interesting, given that at that time, Catholics were prohibited from participating in politics. (presumably by the British?)
The Redemptorists Order (Catholic order) bought the property in 1852 and slapped a great big Rectory and Catholic Church in the front garden of the house (along with a small graveyard in the back garden), but you can still appreciate the beautiful setting, and remember that in 1852 people were not so interested in saving houses for historical reasons as they were using them...
Today, St Mary's is still in operation, as well as the rectory, but the link that connected the House and the Rectory (150yrs old) was recently removed, so you can see where the front door used to be (in photo above, along with the extra windows on the ground floor because the Redemptorists also dug out the front and added windows to the basement bit).
This is a very child friendly house to visit as it is empty of furnishings, with a big garden you can eat apple in and enjoy the view of Spa Creek.