The William Paca House (at one time known as Carvel Hall) is an 18th-century Georgian mansion in

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

William Paca William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

was a signatory of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...

and a three-term

Governor of Maryland The Governor of the State of Maryland is the head of government of Maryland, and is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state and has a broad range of appointive powers ...

. The house was built between 1763 and 1765 and its architecture was largely designed by Paca himself. The walled garden, which includes a two-story summer house, has been restored to its original state. The William Paca House and Garden was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1971. The original one-story office and kitchen pavilions, and their connecting hyphens, were altered in the 19th century with the house's conversion to a hotel, by a second story added to the hyphens and the west wing. These changes have since been reversed, and the building approximates its original outward appearance, both inside and out.

History

In 1780, Paca sold the house to Thomas Jenings, the attorney general of Maryland.

Carvel Hall Hotel

The house and grounds were eventually acquired by the Annapolis Hotel Corporation, and the house became the lobby and conference rooms for the Carvel Hall Hotel, which was constructed in the garden immediately to the rear. The hotel opened in 1901 with two-hundred guest rooms. But, by 1964, a

mixed-use development Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

was proposed for the site that would have demolished the house and the hotel, putting high rises in its place.

Restoration

After the plans to demolish Carvel Hall became public, the house was acquired by Historic Annapolis, Inc. (later the Historic Annapolis Foundation, or HAF), and the surrounding property (garden) was acquired by the State of Maryland in 1965. The additions were removed in 1966-67 and ownership was transferred to the Maryland Historical Trust. The property is administered by Historic Annapolis Foundation, and is open to the public for guided tours of the house and self-guided garden year round.

Description

The Paca House is a Georgian five-part house. The brick structure comprises a central -story block on an elevated basement, flanked by symmetrical -story end pavilions, connected to the central structure by -story hyphens. The interior is a center hall plan with two rooms on either side of the hall. Original woodwork remains only in the central hall, stair hall and the west parlor, including the stair's original

Chinese Chippendale Thomas Chippendale (1718–1779) was a cabinet-maker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gentleman and Cab ...

balustrade.

Gallery

William Paca House, 186 Prince George Street, Annapolis (Anne Arundel County, Maryland).jpg, Paca House, HABS Photo, June 1936 Paca House Garden Jul 09.JPG, Paca House garden, view of the main walk, July 2009 Paca House from Garden Jul 09.JPG, Paca House garden, view of house from the garden, July 2009

References

External links

Historic Annapolis FoundationWilliam Paca House website
*, including photo in 1971, at Maryland Historical Trust * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paca House And Garden National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Historic house museums in Maryland Houses completed in 1765 Museums in Annapolis, Maryland Houses in Annapolis, Maryland Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Annapolis, Maryland Homes of United States Founding Fathers