“ Hampton ” at Tow son, Maryland 
Ridgely, a man of energy and force. Since, in 
England, a large estate with a great mansion 
was the outward sign of position and influ¬ 
ence, it was natural 
that the Captain 
should have 
cherished a desire 
to place upon his 
many acres a 
house that would 
surpass any for 
miles around. 
“ Hampton ” was 
the shaping of his 
dream. 
As there is no 
definite informa¬ 
tion about the 
architectural origin 
of the building, 
curiosity is excited 
as to the source of 
its design, not only 
because it is so dis¬ 
tinctive among the 
dwellings of the 
so-called “ Colo¬ 
nial Period,” but 
because it seems to 
have caught more 
than was usual of 
the air of an 
eighteenth century 
English country 
mansion. Indeed 
it is thought that it 
was suggested by 
such a pretentious 
structure as Castle 
Howard. But this 
probable connec¬ 
tion does not rest 
altogether upon a 
broad architectural 
resemblance of the 
two buildings, for 
it seems that the 
Captain’s ambitions came to be early associated 
with that particular castle. His mother being 
a Howard, it is very likely that he often saw 
the castle during his visits to England while 
in the merchant service. 
Whatever the prototype of the house, its 
cupola, at the time of its completion in 1790, 
was the most elegant, both in proportion and 
detail of any in this country, and seems to 
have been the first 
instance, upon a 
Colonial domestic 
building, in which 
such a feature was 
treated with 
monumental im¬ 
portance. 
There is no 
record as to exactly 
when the plans 
were matured. 1 
Perhaps it was 
before the Revo¬ 
lution, and their 
execution was pre¬ 
vented by the war; 
but the date 1783, 
in leaden charac¬ 
ters embedded in 
the wall of the east 
wing near the 
eaves, shows that 
preparations for 
buildingmusthave 
been started just 
after the cessation 
of hostilities, and 
that considerable 
progress had been 
made before peace 
was declared. 
Soon after the 
completion of the 
house in 1790, 
Captain Ridgely 
died, having 
divided his estate 
amongthe children 
of his sisters, 
“Hampton” going 
to his namesake, 
Charles Ridgely 
Carnan, upon the 
1 It has been discovered in an old account book of Captain Ridgely’s 
that the builder-in-chief or “architect” of “ Hampton” was one 
|ehu Howell and that as early as 1784 he and his family lived in a 
wing of the house while the rest was being built. At Howell’s death 
in 1787 the amount that had been paid for the house by cash in kind 
or by having the laborers’ hire satisfied by the Captain was ^3482, 
si 3, d6^£, but the entire cost of the house is not known for the ledger 
containing the final settlement has not come to light. 
THE PLAN OK “ HAMPTON 
Especially measured and drawn for House and Garden by Laurence Hall Fowler 
42 
