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By Frederick Kunkle

The Washington Post

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) 鈥� When Horatio Sharpe, then the colonial governor of Maryland, started work on Whitehall in the 18th century, the story goes that he hoped the palatial villa on Chesapeake Bay would win his beloved鈥檚 heart. Alas, the young woman fell for Sharpe鈥檚 friend and personal secretary instead.

But Whitehall鈥檚 current owners now hope to woo the American people 鈥� and perhaps tap Uncle Sam for some help maintaining it.

Long overshadowed by grander and more accessible cousins such as Thomas Jefferson鈥檚 Monticello, Whitehall could become a main attraction in the proposed Chesapeake National Recreation Area, according to lawmakers and others pushing for the federal designation.

The Annapolis site would offer visitors a jumping-off point to explore the bay鈥檚 paradoxical history as the birthplace of American democracy and slavery. The National Register of Historic Places lists Whitehall as 鈥渁 major milestone in American architectural history,鈥� too, because of the scale and quality of a classical design that predated Monticello. Draft legislation would allow the National Park Service to acquire or partner with Whitehall and other designated sites on the bay.

The idea of transforming Whitehall into a national destination also has the blessing of a key individual: Charlie Scarlett, one of the last people to reside there.

Scarlett said he remembers family dinners on the grand portico overlooking the bay, learning to swim with a chunk of a two-by-four as a float, raising a red fox as a pet, and living with a portrait of Edgar Allan Poe outside his bedroom.

鈥淭his is home for me,鈥� he said during a recent tour. 鈥淎nd I love everything about it.鈥�

His late father, Charles E. Scarlett, Jr., a Baltimore shipping executive with a love for history, bought Whitehall in 1946 and spent more than a decade restoring the structure to its original design, right down to hand-painted wallpaper imported from China. He and his wife lived at Whitehall until their deaths.

Charlie Scarlett, who oversees the family-run Brandywine Foundation that owns the property, is taking steps to open Whitehall to the public. Partly, his motivation is practical: He said the nonprofit organization struggles with the enormous cost of maintaining a nearly 260-year-old building. The manor鈥檚 leaking roof, which has caused extensive water damage, alone would cost nearly $1 million to repair, he said.

But Scarlett, 70, a business executive who lives in St. Louis, said he also believes Whitehall should become more accessible to all Americans, including the many descendants of enslaved people who lived and worked there, because of its historical significance.

If Congress incorporates the bay into the national park system, Scarlett envisions Whitehall becoming a national attraction modeled after the nonprofit-owned Mount Vernon or managed by the National Park Service within a network of landmarks, such as those in San Francisco鈥檚 Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Scarlett has even considered allowing Brandywine to sell his former home to the federal government. The foundation鈥檚 most recent publicly available income tax form values the property at $7.8 million.

鈥淵ou know, if you鈥檇 asked me 10 years ago, I would have said, 鈥楬ell no.鈥� But that was 10 years ago,鈥� Scarlett said.

Janice Hayes-Williams, who lives in Severn, Maryland, and traces her family to Whitehall鈥檚 enslaved Africans and enslavers, said the historic site would be an asset to the country in educating people about the enduring impact of slavery. She said her late father dreamed of the day when he and other descendants of its enslaved residents might walk its halls.

鈥淗e would say, 鈥楤aby, whatever you do, go in there because your ancestors built that,鈥欌�� Hayes-Williams recalled. He never got the chance, but when Hayes-Williams visited during an open house about five years ago, she wept. 鈥淭he slaves are my family members,鈥� she thought.

Unlike Jefferson and others whose homes have become national shrines, Sharpe was a British loyalist. He was born in Yorkshire to a large, prominent family whose connections likely played a role in his appointment as governor by Lord Baltimore, according to a 1937 article in the Maryland Historical Society鈥檚 magazine.

Sharpe also had received a captain鈥檚 commission in the Royal Marines, rising to lieutenant colonel with an infantry sent to the West Indies 鈥� an experience that made him a wise choice to run the colony on the eve of the French and Indian War. He was 35 when he sailed from England, accompanied by his private secretary, the Oxford-educated John Ridout, according to the 1912 book 鈥淎 Colonial Governor in Maryland,鈥� by Lady Matilda Ridout Edgar.

Legend has it that Sharpe set about building Whitehall in late 1764 to impress Mary Ogle, the daughter of a previous governor, according to a 1951 article by Charles Scarlett Jr. But she fell for the younger Ridout, who eventually married her.

Col. Sharpe, as he was known, hired exceptional architects to build Whitehall and oversaw its construction, using enslaved Africans and indentured European laborers, including a skilled woodcarver who died of tuberculosis before he could earn his freedom.

The building鈥檚 design drew on influential Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, whose clean, simplified neoclassical Roman and Greek styles 鈥� distinguished by columns, domes and pediments 鈥� became popular in London in the mid-1700s, according to a 1974 report supporting Whitehall鈥檚 inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. The Palladian style also influenced Monticello, the James Semple House in Williamsburg, and other colonial homes.

Whitehall was one of only two pre-revolutionary houses in the United States to display a 鈥渇ull temple portico,鈥� using massive Corinthian columns hewed from white cedar, the 1974 report says. (The other was Roger Morris鈥� mansion on the Harlem River, built in 1765.) The spacious interior also was 鈥渆xtraordinarily rich鈥� with skilled wood carvings, including satyr-like faces in each corner of the central salon to represent the four winds. From atop the great square hall, a phoenix looks down.

鈥淎nd so evolved in our part of the world a Palladian dwelling which in all probability marked the beginning of the full classic revival in America,鈥� the elder Scarlett wrote. 鈥淭aken to heart and fostered by Thomas Jefferson, it was to become the foundation of our national architecture.鈥�

Lady Ridout鈥檚 book describes Sharpe鈥檚 1,000-acre estate humming with activity, much of it performed by enslaved people, in well-tended gardens, orchards, a sawmill, a brickyard and a workshop that spun cotton, flax and wool.

In 1773, Sharpe sailed for England, expecting to return to Whitehall, though he never did. He entrusted his beloved villa to Ridout, sometimes sending back cuttings for its vineyards or often writing to check up on affairs there, Lady Ridout wrote. In one letter, Sharpe granted Ridout freedom to sell enslaved workers if economically necessary, directing that they go only to purchasers 鈥測ou are well assured will treat them with Humanity.鈥�

Yet Hayes-Williams spent hours digging through state archives, including correspondence between Ridout and Sharpe discussing her ancestors in the same context as chattel.

鈥淗e鈥檚 basically saying, 鈥極h, the pigs are fine, the horses are fine, the slaves are fine,鈥欌�� she recalled.

Upon Sharpe鈥檚 death in 1790, Ridout inherited Whitehall, and his heirs held onto it until 1895. Then the property changed hands several times. By the time the Scarlett family bought Whitehall, the place was in disrepair.

In recent years, the Brandywine Foundation has cobbled together a variety of business ventures, including use of the now-115-acre site as a wedding venue. It hosts as many as 12 weddings a year for a rental fee of $19,000, part of which is shared with a wedding planner who handles the other arrangements. Other income comes from boarding horses ($500 a head per month) and renting out a small, 17th-century cottage ($500 a night on weekends). But it鈥檚 nowhere near enough to cover capital expenses and repairs.

To defray the cost, Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, both Maryland Democrats, secured $500,000 in fiscal 2023 for Whitehall鈥檚 restoration, as part of a $10.2 million package of local investments. The Brandywine Foundation also obtained a $100,000 preservation grant in 2021 from the Maryland Historical Trust, an agency within the state Department of Planning.

The foundation has applied for inclusion in the agency鈥檚 Chesapeake Bay Gateways Network and explored a future partnership with the National Park Service to open Whitehall to the public.

Wendy O鈥橲ullivan, superintendent for the National Park Service鈥檚 Chesapeake office, said the Brandywine Foundation has sought recognition as a Gateway site but so far has not qualified because the site is not fully open to the public. The Park Service has been consulting with the foundation on how that could happen, she added.

In the meantime, Scarlett said his family tries to accommodate requests for visits on an informal basis, as well as archaeological research, while planning for a future that could allow many more Americans to experience his former home.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a treasure,鈥� he said.