Doughoregan Manor () is a plantation house and estate located on Manor Lane west of

Ellicott City, Maryland Ellicott City is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in, and the county seat of, Howard County, Maryland, Howard County, Maryland, United States. Part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, its ...

, United States. Established in the early 18th century as the seat of Maryland's prominent Carroll family, it was home to

Founding Father The following is a list of national founders of sovereign states 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., political system ...

Charles Carroll, a signer of the

United States Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence, formally The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen States of America in the original printing, is the founding document of the United States. On July 4, 1776, it was adopted unanimously by the Second Continen ...

, during the late 18th century. A portion of the estate, including the main house, was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

on November 11, 1971. It remains in the Carroll family as a private working farm. The estate and Manor Lane are closed to the public as of 2025.

History

Doughoregan Manor is a colonial manor house built in the early 18th century. The slave plantation was founded on 7,000 acres patented to Charles Carroll I as "Doughoreagan" (sometimes spelled Doororegan) named for a family estate in Ireland, in 1702, and expanded to 10,000 acres as "Doughoreagan Manor" in 1717. The Georgian brick plantation house, built by Charles Carroll II around 1727, was enlarged and remodeled in 1832 by Charles Carroll V in the

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style. From 1766 to 1832, Doughoregan Manor was the country home of

Charles Carroll of Carrollton Charles Carroll (September 19, 1737 – November 14, 1832), known as Charles Carroll of Carrollton or Charles Carroll III, was an American politician, planter, and signatory of the Declaration of Independence. He was the only Catholic signatory ...

, (Charles Carroll III) last surviving signer of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration 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 territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

. He lies buried in the chapel attached to the north end of the mansion. Notable guests that have visited the manor include

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving Presi ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

, and

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

. In 1861, the manor became the home of

John Lee Carroll John Lee Carroll (September 30, 1830 – February 27, 1911), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 37th Governor of Maryland from 1876 to 1880. Early life and education Carroll was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 3 ...

, who became Governor of Maryland. In its current configuration the Manor is a brick, two-storied, U-shaped building. The roof is in

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

d sections, some with balustraded decks, and in the center is an octagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. The front center entrance has a one-story tetrastyle Doric

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

and is similar to the rear portico. The chapel and kitchen are attached to the main block by

hyphens The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes (en dash , em dash and others), which are wider, or with t ...

. The private chapel attached to the manor house was built at a time when the founding of

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish churches was prohibited in the colony. The chapel served as the primary meeting place for the local Catholic community until as late as 1855 when nearby parishes were founded. The chapel continued to be open to the public on Sunday mornings for Mass until the 1990s. A vineyard was planted by Charles Carroll of Annapolis in 1770 with four types of grapes. The vineyard was maintained into 1796, becoming one of the longest surviving colonial vineyards in the United States. A postal office served the manor from 18 September 1876 to 31 August 1907. The manor became the site for the yearly Howard County Horse Show through the 1930s, attracting thousands. The "Manor Dairy" opened in 1962 providing milk and dairy products. The Carroll family were enthusiastic horse breeders and raced thoroughbreds, competing with other well-to-do families at annual racing events, which also formed an important part of the social and political life of the colony. Charles Carroll of Annapolis's horse was beaten in 1743 by George Hume Steuart's "

Dungannon Dungannon (, ) is a town in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the second-largest town in the county (after Omagh) and had a population of 16,282 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2021 Census. The Dungannon and South Tyrone Borough Counci ...

" in the Annapolis Subscription Plate, established that year. In 1830, Emily Caton MacTavish donated 253 acres to build St. Charles College, Maryland, After a fire in 1911, Carroll family heirs sued to sell the property and divide the proceeds among the family. During the Civil war, the manor served as a hub for munitions for Southern supporters, also using nearby Mt. Pleasant as a substation. By 1931, the manor estate consisted of the mansion, overseer's house, horse stable, bank barn, 3 silos, corn house, 11 tenant houses, wash house, sheep house, coach house, brick barn and two barracks. Members of the

Carroll family O'Carroll (), also known as simply Carroll, Carrol or Carrell, is a Gaelic Irish clan which is the most prominent sept of the Ciannachta (also known as Clan Cian). Their genealogies claim that they are kindred with the Eóganachta (themselve ...

still own and live in the manor, which sits at the center of an of the original estate. Land was divided among the heirs each generation, sold for subdivisions, with at least owned by the family as late as 1971 and by 1977. According to a newspaper article: "As one family member put it a few years ago, 'Only God, the Indians and the Carrolls have owned this land.'" The estate and Manor Lane are closed to the public.

Tax credits and development plans

In 1971, the owner, Phillip Carroll, did not want to commit all 2,042 acres to landmark status, preferring to leave part of it for future development, so about 900 acres were designated landmark status, according to the National Register of Historic Places inventory sheet. However, with the 1976 Tax Reform Act, the owner changed his mind and requested the landmark status encompass all the acreage, which was granted. The 30-year tax credit and Maryland Historical Trust's easement expired in 2007. In an attempt to keep the majority of the property in the hands of the Carroll family, they struck a deal in 2008 with Erickson Retirement Communities to sell 150 acres, but the deal fell through the following year. Camilla Carroll, co-owner of the estate, insisted that "...there is no money now to restore anything, and historic buildings are falling down as we speak." The County Commissioners voted in 2010 to pay the Carroll family about 19 million dollars over twenty years to place 500 acres in Howard County's Agricultural Preservation program. The council approved paying to expand the public water and sewer system to the development and the Carrolls would donate 34 acres to expand a county park. 221 acres of Doughoregan Manor were rezoned to allow 325 single-family homes to be built on the north-east side of the property. Many neighbors were concerned with the plans and a petition was filed in circuit court for judicial review of the zoning decision. In 2015, tax credits were awarded for work on an outbuilding at Doughoregan as one of the nine buildings listed in the 2015 Sustainable Communities Tax Credits of $10 million.

Description

The house was originally a -story brick house, about 30 feet deep and 66 feet wide, with a

gambrel A gambrel or gambrel roof is a usually symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side. The upper slope is positioned at a shallow angle, while the lower slope is steep. This design provides the advantages of a sloped roof while maxim ...

roof. A detached brick chapel stood to the north, while a brick kitchen stood to the south. The dependent buildings were incorporated into the main structure in the 1830s by Charles Carroll V, raising the main house's roof to make a two-story structure. The new roof was topped by a balustraded deck with an octagonal cupola. The front (east) facade gained a one-story portico with doric columns. A similar portico to the road was built with a room above, while a marble-floored veranda with iron columns extended to each side. The chapel's roof was raised and it was joined to the main house by a two-story passage, as was the kitchen. The work resulted in a

Palladian style Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

five-part house extending almost . The house's interior has a center-hall plan, with the oak-paneled main hall extending the full depth (30 feet) of the house. Stairs are located in a small side hall on the north side. A library, large parlor, small parlor and dining room occupy the first floor, with bedrooms on the second.

References

External links

The Plan for Doughoregan Manor, Howard County gov, 2010
*For images, go to th
Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog
and search for ''Doughoregan Manor''.
Doughoregan Manor
NHL information

*, including photo in 1936, at Maryland Historical Trust * * *Benefits of Doughoregan Manor deal cited, {{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Houses completed in 1727 Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Howard County, Maryland landmarks National Historic Landmarks in Maryland Carroll family residences African-American history of Howard County, Maryland Plantation houses in Maryland History of slavery in Maryland Houses in Howard County, Maryland Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland Buildings and structures in Ellicott City, Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Howard County, Maryland Homes of United States Founding Fathers

History

Tax credits and development plans

Description

See also

References

External links