Belair Stable Museum, Maryland

Belair's first owner, Samuel Ogle, imported two English thoroughbreds as a breeding pair in 1747. The estate began a history of thoroughbred breeding and training which was renewed in the early twentieth century. William Woodward owned Belair then. He built a stable in 1907 that still stands. In addition to being home to thoroughbreds, it was also used for carriages and riding horses. The building even has a small apartment for the stable master.

Belair Stable Museum

The very first things we saw there (after we found the geocache outside) were a few carriages and sleighs decorated for Christmas.

Surry with the fringe on the top?

Topless vehicles circa 1900

Where's an old bob-tail nag when you need one?

A corner of the carriage room is dedicated to thoroughbred breeding and racing, showing a typical lounge area with trophies and racing silks.

Horse-themed library

Trophies a plenty

Belair silks

The stable has two long extensions off the carriage building. Horses were kept in these buildings. We saw some sample stalls and equipment from horse raising and racing.

Hall of stalls

A variety of harnesses

A shovel for less glamorous duties

Gallant Fox replica

The stables had their best success in the 1930s. Their horse Gallant Fox was a triple-crown winner in 1930 (winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes). Five years later Gallant Fox's son Omaha won the Triple Crown, becoming the only father and son to win all three races.

Belair also had a farm and various equipment is still on display.

Farming implements

The plow and pump (a good name for a British pub?)

Another angle on the plow

Corn-husking contraption

Old-time phone!

Adjacent to the carriage room is the Stable Master's apartment. It was converted in 1923 and first occupied by James Brady and his family. He trained the horses, oversaw the stable, and drove the carriages for the estate. His wife took care of their two children and prepared meals for any day-laborers at the stables. The home looks very comfortable.

Dining room with separate entrance for the stable hands

Kitchen cabinets

My daughter hoping for a snack

The master bedroom

The nursery

The bathroom

We enjoyed our visit to the museum. It isn't very big but is informative and free. The walk from the Belair Mansion is only two block, an easy trek even in wintry weather!

Kids horsing around at the stable

Belair Mansion, Maryland--Part II

Continuing our tour of the Belair Mansion in Maryland (see Part I here) we went upstairs. The central hall had an impressive cabinet.

My son seriously in front of the cabinet

The front bedroom features a fine canopy with matching drapes.

A fun bed

The rest of the bedroom

The upstairs level has a small foyer with a playing table. The room overlooks the back lawn.

Another card table

Piano

The back bedroom is called the Yellow Bedroom and follows an obvious color scheme.

The Yellow Bedroom

More of the Yellow Bedroom

The Nursery is across the hall.

Nursery chimney set for Santa

The crib

More typical nursery stuff

The upstairs bathroom is still in the 1930s style.

The bathroom

The tub

The final part of the tour took us to the basement where the kitchen is located. The first thing we saw was the dubwaiter. It took a while explaining it to the kids. They knew about elevators but didn't think they existed more than one hundred years ago.

Dumbwaiter, an elevator for food

The kitchen is early twentieth century. The stoves are impressive and the kids loved the table.

The larger stove

The smaller stove

Kids at the table

The kitchen cabinets

One interesting object was this double bucket. According to the self-tour guide, it dates back to the 1800s and is a form of crock pot. The stone is heated in a fire and then put in the bottom of the container. Food is put inside and the lid is closed. A few hours later a fabulous meal is ready.

Old time crock pot

The house also has a wine cellar which has hooks for storing meat.

Wine cellar

My daughter pretends to sample the stores

Meat hooks! (The piece of meat is fake)

Across the hall is the slave quarters with a yet another table of food.

Slave quarters

A typical slave meal

We went out to the back gardens, the main feature of which is a view of the back of the house.

Entrance to the garden

A small formal garden

Back of the house

From here, we went to visit the Belair Stable Museum, a tale for another post.

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!