Summerseat: A Farmstead Then and Now

Story by Jackie Zilliox and Photography by Ed Mann

In 1650 Robert Brooke arrived in Southern Maryland with his family. Lord Baltimore made known to the governor of Maryland to grant Brooke an entire county. Brooke surveyed 2000 acres lying on the south side of the Patuxent River and called it de la Brook Manor. However, Brooke associated with the colonial representatives, which angered Lord Baltimore who nullified Brookes as commander of Charles County on the 28th of September 1653. Lord Baltimore also delayed the patent on de la Brook Manor until three years after his death at which time it was granted on the nineteenth of June 1658 to his eldest son, Baker Brooke.

The current home called Summerseat is one small part of this original land grant given to Robert Brooke. Vernon Dorsey, President of Summerseat Farm and Animal Sanctuary spent much of his childhood growing up on Summerseat. "This land given to Brooke by Lord Baltimore was split up into parcels and sold many times beginning in the early part of 1700. However, the house you see here now is not the original, there were two before it, which were destroyed by fire. The Costigan family built this house in 1884. On November 27th, 1931 Susan Sutton, daughter of Susan Costigan, sold Summerseat with 284.6 acres to my grandfather Vernon Martin Dorsey. My grandfather used it as a working farm and had full time tenant farmers that grew tobacco, corn, and soybeans. Then Gilbert Dorsey inherited it, and Gilbert's widow sold 128.6 acres to Shelva and Robert Davis who in turn sold it to the Summerseat Farm and Animal Sanctuary." Summerseat F&A Sanctuary is a non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of the legacy of a historic working farm.

The house sits on a hill with the farm spreading beneath her like a long dress. It is a Queen-Anne style, two-story frame house. A formal and woodland garden with new gazebo, sit behind it like a decorative train. The full English style garden is surrounded by a charming lattice fence and filled with old brick paths that lead to a seating area. Ancient boxwood with trunks as big as elephant legs as well as iris, daylily, azalea, dogwood, lamb's ear and roses fill the beds.

The woodland garden and gazebo are just beyond the garden gate and feature a fishpond with large goldfish and fuchsia water lilies.

Under the shade of some old trees is the small cemetery that has markers dating to the early eighteenth century and is listed on the county's historical inventory. One of them memorializes Christopher Ireland Dorsey Costigan who served as a Confederate in the War of Northern Aggression, a.k.a. the Civil War.

As you enter the house from the garden you step into an enlarged and enclosed porch with a small bath to the left with a claw foot tub, small porcelain sink and clapboard walls and ceiling. Straight through the breezeway is the updated kitchen and front door. The tiny hallway off the kitchen is where the cold pantry and butler's pantry are located.

The pantry area spills into the dining room that features a chair railing with wallpaper above. Oak floors are throughout the house. Substantial base moulding and half-inch thick architectural trim criss-crossed on the ceiling modestly decorate the room. Leaded two over two windows provide a great view of the long driveway that is lined by old cedars.

"This oddly shaped room really shows the asymmetry of the homes architecture," says Shanda Brewer, Chairperson of the historical committee, "which was a real departure from normal building at that time."

A wide staircase with pine treads and turned oak balustrades dominates the large vestibule which leads into the formal parlor which is a surprising bright yellow. A brick fireplace with black and white tile is centered on the interior wall between built-in bookcases. Queen Anne style furnishings accent the room.

"The paint colors in the house haven't been changed since the purchase from the Davis family," says Mark Heidrich, Vice President of Summerseat F&A Sanctuary. "And as a matter of fact, there has been very little done to the house since we took on ownership. Our immediate focus has been to concentrate on building educational programs linking us to the community, attracting membership and volunteers, and to develop creative revenue generating events. We see Summerseat as a perfect place for small weddings, conferences, workshops, and outdoor festivals. Knowing that the house is a gem we'd like to eventually turn our focus on bringing back some of its Victorian charm."

Past the stairway in the other direction is the red library with floor-to-ceiling bookcases on one wall.

"We are taking donations of books on agricultural, local history anything that pertains to the turn of the century interests us," says board member Dick Wilde.

The room has a velvet settee, two chairs with a candle table in between and a writing desk in the corner.

Upstairs are four bedrooms, all with a great view of the farm or gardens. The largest room is all blue and features a charming black pot-bellied stove with a wood surround that has been painted white. Halfway down the staircase is a small door that leads to the former servants quarters and another smaller staircase to the kitchen. At the bottom of the stairs appropriately hang two photos of former black servants. One is Emmy and the other was the Costigan's cook, her name is unreadable.

At the back of the house, just past the enclosed porch is the new addition Jean Dorsey and Miel D. Burgee built which includes a very modern and expansive bath and bedroom.

The farm has approximately 30 acres of pasture and 25 acres of sharecropped land currently being used for feed, corn, straw and hay primarily for the many types of animals on this working farm such as donkeys, bison, horses, llamas, Barbados sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, and guinea fowl. (The bison are part of a herd owned by local bison breeder Dick Wilde).

There are also vineyards, a vegetable garden, and a beekeeper that gathers honey. Horses are also boarded and enjoy a lovely pasture. Two miles of open and wooded trails are being developed for hikers.

"The intentions of the organization have evolved over the last few years." states Mark Heidrich, "Originally formed to preserve the land encompassed by the Summerseat Farm and provide sanctuary for certain animals it has grown to see the potential it has as a community resource."

For more information on Summerseat Farm and Animal Sanctuary visit their website at www.summerseat.org.