This is Darnall’s chance, one of the oldest homes in Upper Marlboro.
It was built in 1742 by James Waldrop on lands formerly held by the Darnall family, from which the property takes its name. Mr. Waldrop married a young woman named Lettice Lee, who lived on the land until 1776, when she passed away. Lettice led a very interesting life as the wife of a wealthy man, the manager of a home, later as a widowed landowner, and again as a wife.
Her life is full of interesting happenings that don’t often come to mind when thinking of the 18th century. The impact of pre-nuptual agreements, wills, education, mortality rates, land ownership are all explained through her life.
The house now offers tours, which focus on Lettice and on the lives of women like her and around her, as examples of the 18th century world as it was for women. It specifically offers interesting contrasts between her life and the life of enslaved women who also lived on the grounds. Go visit for a walk in tour on a Friday or Sunday or by appointment on other days.
Also of note: I wrote this post shortly after I visited the site, but I didn’t care too much for the picture and had intended to go back and take a better one. However, I just got tangled up in my new job and never got the chance to 1) go back or 2) go to the marylanddailyphoto email account, which hadn’t been used much. To my suprise, when I did my monthly check of the account there was an e-mail there from the very nice woman who had given me a tour, asking where the posting was. So, I wrote an apology for my delayed post and I’m promptly posting this one. Even if you don’t like this picture, go take a tour now. It’s even better than the Inner Harbor dragon boats.
5 responses so far ↓
1 charlieb // May 21, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Why is it called Darnall’s CHANCE? Why chance?
2 Jess // May 21, 2008 at 4:51 PM
I read a really interesting book once called The Refinement of America, all about how mid-Atlantic houses built in this period of time reflected the class structure and efforts to consciously separate oneself from the lower classes in house layout, furnishings, et cetera. As I remember (it’s been a while) it focused more on Delaware and less on Maryland, but it still might be interesting for MDP readers.
3 bryan // May 22, 2008 at 1:41 PM
All homes of this era are a direct reflection of class structure in the same way they are today.
4 Allison // May 25, 2008 at 11:06 AM
It’s not called Darnall’s Chance for any exciting reason. Chance was simply part of the lexicon of words used to name tracts of land. It was a system that started in England and was then used by the colonists. If you’d like to see a more flattering picture of Darnall’s Chance check out our website, or you could always come see the site in person.
5 Dennis Hubscher // Mar 15, 2010 at 9:36 AM
I recently visited Darnall’s Chance and took a beautiful photo of it in the snow. If you want it, give me an email address and I’ll send it to you.
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