Fairview construction began around the year 1788 on an expanse of land owned by Baruch Duckett in

Collington, Maryland Collington was a settlement in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, dating from colonial times. Collington has been subsumed by the city of Bowie. Geography Collington was located at 38°58'6" North, 76°45'35" West (38.9684441 -76.75 ...

(now the census-designated place of Fairwood). The house is a transitional federal/

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, ...

design considered to be a significant part of the

Prince George's County Prince George's County (often shortened to PG County or PG) is located in the U.S. state of Maryland bordering the eastern portion of Washington, D.C. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 967,201, making it the second-most populous ...

heritage. Fairview is a two-story stuccoed brick

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and ...

with flush end chimneys and a unique stepped gable at one gable end. Its Georgian plan interior features fine

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

trim.

History

Upon his death in 1810 at Fairview, Duckett left the estate to his son-in-law, Captain William Duckett Bowie. The will stipulated that William Duckett Bowie and his sons should have Fairview as long as they did not cut down certain trees standing near the house but "if the said Bowie, or any of his children should fell the trees, then the property shall go to my brother, Isaac Duckett." Bowie's son,

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 ...

Oden Bowie Oden Bowie (November 10, 1826December 4, 1894), a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 34th governor of the State of Maryland in the United States from 1869 to 1872. Childhood He was born in 1826 at Fairview Plantation in Col ...

, was born at Fairview in 1826 and was buried on the grounds in 1894. Fairiew 1936

Fairview was one of the larger slave-holding plantations in the county, tended by over 100 enslaved at its production height; 47 during Oden Bowie's ownership. In the 1980s, land that made up the

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

consisted of a turf farm and woods. The owners of the estate sold most of the land to

The Rouse Company The Rouse Company was a publicly traded shopping mall and community developer from 1956 until 2004, when GGP Inc., General Growth Properties (GGP) purchased the company. It was founded by Hunter Moss and James Rouse, James W. Rouse in 1939. Begin ...

who built a housing development that bears the name Fairwood on the site. While not currently on

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

, the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission is the local authority and considers the house and cemetery to be a historic site, #71A-13. Descendants of Baruch Duckett remained in residence until 2017, when Fairview was offered for sale for the first time in its history. The home has exchanged ownership multiple times and is now under the care of Fairview Manor, LLC. Fairview Gable

Thoroughbred racing

Oden Bowie, perhaps inspired by

Samuel Ogle Samuel Ogle ( 1694 – 3 May 1752) was the 16th, 18th and 20th Proprietary Governor of Maryland from 1731 to 1732, 1733 to 1742, and 1746/1747 to 1752. Background The Ogle family was quite prominent for many centuries in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, No ...

's nearby Belair Stables and the

Belair Stud Belair Stud was an American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm founded by Provincial Governor of Maryland Samuel Ogle in 1747 in Collington, Prince George's County, Maryland, in Colonial America. Colonial period Queen Mab and ...

, founded a stable at Fairview that produced successful race horses including Belle D'Or, Oriole and Crickmore.

References

{{reflist Houses in Prince George's County, Maryland Bowie, Maryland Horse farms in Maryland Plantations in Maryland Plantation houses in Maryland Bowie family

History

Thoroughbred racing

Further reading

References