Monday, January 11, 2016

Belair Mansion, Maryland--Part I

Belair Mansion is the home of Provincial Governor Samuel Ogle and his wife Anne Trasker Ogle in 1745. In the 1900s, the home was owned by the Woodward family, who bred and trained horses, including two Triple Crown winners.

Belair Mansion

Our first stop inside was for a video overview of the house's history. The kids did not have the attention span to watch, so we started the self tour. A staircase led us to the formal dining room. The room features a meal from colonial times and a trompe l'oeil door to the garden on the left.

Dining room

Meal with a son in the background

Silver service

Fake door

A small foyer links the dining room to the double parlor, a room that was originally two parlors. The double parlor has paintings of the Ogles.

Foyer

More foyer

Double parlor

Mrs. Ogle and child by the tea table

Tea set on the table

Mr. Ogle and his reading table

In the other wing of the downstairs is a sun room. The room was added in the 20th century and originally featured over sixty fox heads. Only one head is still there.

Sun room

Mantle with Christmas decor and the last fox

Table decoration

The sun room is also the area for kids activities which our children enjoyed.

Making crafts

Brothers reading together

The next part of the tour took us to the front hall with a vintage mirror and the stairs going up.

Vintage mirrors

Festive stairs

Just behind the stairs is a small office that was probably the butler's pantry.

The butler's desk

The rest of the room

The card table

More of the mansion (upstairs and downstairs) in the next post!

No comments:

Post a Comment