The William Paca House (at one time known as Carvel Hall) is an 18th century Georgian mansion

Georgian architecture

Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...

 in Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. William Paca

William Paca

William Paca was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and later Governor of Maryland and a United States federal judge.-Early life:...

 was a signatory of the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of independence

A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...

 and a three-term Governor of Maryland. The house was built between 1763 and 1765 and its architecture was largely designed by Paca himself. The 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) walled garden, which includes a two-story summer house, has been restored to its original state.

The William Paca House and Garden was declared a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

 in 1971.

The original one-story office and kitchen pavilions, and their connecting hyphens

Hyphen (architecture)

In architecture, a hyphen is a connecting link between two larger building elements. It is typically found in Georgian style architecture, where the hyphens form connections between a large central house and end pavilions in the Georgian five-part house, which was in turn derived from Palladian...

, were altered in the 19th century with the house's conversion to a hotel, by a second story added to the hyphens and the west wing. These changes have since been reversed, and the building approximates its original outward appearance, both inside and out.

Carvel Hall

The house and grounds were eventually acquired by the Annapolis Hotel Corporation, and the house became the lobby and conference rooms for a new hotel constructed in the garden immediately to the rear. The hotel, known as "Carvel Hall," opened with two-hundred guest rooms in 1906. But, by 1964, a mixed-use development was proposed for the site that would demolish the house and the hotel - putting high rises in its place.

Restoration

After the plans to demolish Carvel Hall became public, the house was acquired by Historic Annapolis, Inc. (later the Historic Annapolis Foundation, or HAF), and the surrounding property (garden) was acquired by the State of Maryland in 1965. The additions were removed in 1966-67 and ownership was transferred to the Maryland Historical Trust. The property is administered by Historic Annapolis Foundation, and is open to the public for guided tours of the house and self-guided garden year round.

Description

The Paca House is a Georgian five-part house. The brick structure comprises a central 2-1/2 story block on an elevated basement, flanked by symmetrical 1-1/2 story end pavilions, connected to the central structure by 1-1/2 story hyphens

Hyphen (architecture)

In architecture, a hyphen is a connecting link between two larger building elements. It is typically found in Georgian style architecture, where the hyphens form connections between a large central house and end pavilions in the Georgian five-part house, which was in turn derived from Palladian...

. The interior is a center hall plan with two rooms on either side of the hall. Original woodwork remains only in the central hall, stair hall and the west parlor, including the stair's original Chinese Chippendale balustrade.

See also

• Hammond-Harwood House
  Hammond-Harwood House
  The Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, is one of the premier colonial houses remaining in America from the British colonial period . It is the only existing work of colonial academic architecture that was principally designed from a plate in Andrea Palladio’s I Quattro...
  
  
• Brice House
• Chase-Lloyd House
  Chase-Lloyd House
  The Chase-Lloyd House in Annapolis, Maryland is a brick three-story Georgian mansion dating from 1769-1774 with interiors by William Buckland . Its construction was started for Samuel Chase, who would later be a signatory to the Declaration of Independence and Associate Justice of the Supreme...
  
  
• Tulip Hill
  Tulip Hill
  Tulip Hill is a plantation house that was built between 1755 and 1756 one mile from Galesville in Anne Arundel County in the Province of Maryland. Tulip Hill was built before the American War of Independence....
  
  

External links

• Historic Annapolis Foundation
• William Paca House Site
• Governor William Paca House and Garden, Anne Arundel County, including photo in 1971, at Maryland Historical Trust
• William Paca House, 186 Prince George Street, Annapolis, Anne Arundel County, MD: 6 photos, 4 data pages, at Historic American Building Survey