The march of history on Maryland’s Eastern Seaboard is often recorded in artifacts big and small. An arrowhead here, a stately church or a grand mansion there. Some are saved for posterity, but others are too often lost in the mist of time.
This is the story of how the magnificent interior woodwork of one of the region’s first colonial homes was saved, shipped off to a museum for 107 years, and now saved from a private auction and returned to the Eastern Shore for the public to see.
Some called it Carthagena; others “My Lady Sewall’s Mannor.”
It’s a brick home built in the colonial era in Secretary, on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It was once reputed to be one of the finest house in the state. Built around 1690, it was adorned with English mahogany and rosewood mantlepieces.
In the 18th century it became home to Captain Henry Trippe, a prominent early planter. The Trippe family added elaborate wood paneling and an ornate staircase to reflect their prominence in the state.
But time took its toll and by the early 20th century the house had fallen into disrepair, like many others of the colonial era. Fortunately, someone thought to save the interior woodwork, which was sold to the Brooklyn Museum in New York, where it became part of a decorative arts collection.
More than a century later, with the museum needing more gallery space, the interior woodwork of what we now call the Trippe House was scheduled to be auctioned and possibly lost to history. That is, until the Nanticoke Historic Preservation Alliance, working with the descendants of Henry Trippe, rallied to raise enough money for what they hoped would be a winning bid.
It was a close call. And nothing was certain. But then, on the eve of the auction, the Brooklyn Museum offered the materials directly to Nanticoke Preservation Alliance, recognizing their intent to bring the woodwork back to its original community.
The historic interior woodwork would be coming home to the Eastern Shore.
The original Trippe house is now used as the Rectory for the Our Lady of Good Counsel Roman Catholic Church.
So the plan now is to install the historic woodwork in the planned Three Cultures Center on the grounds of the Handsell House outside Vienna.
###