About Hampton Horse Farm, Owings, MD
A brief history of owners, architecture, and a few anecdotes
Hampton stands on a hill which is the second highest point in Calvert County, Maryland. Designated an historic trust property in November 1983, it is a fine example of Federal architecture, and is an important landmark for the county.
Many families have resided at Hampton, including the Talbotts, the Carcauds, and the Wards, among others. Now the Lynn family is happy to call Hampton home. In the interest of brevity, this is not an exhaustive account of all of Hampton’s proud owners. It does highlight some of its key players, and some descendants of these families still live in the area today.
Origins and Owners
Richard Talbott was the first owner of the property in 1664. He erected a log cabin on the site after receiving an assignment of this particular piece of land from his father-in-law, Major Richard Ewen. The provisional land office in that same year listed the property under the name, “The Home Plantation.” It is not certain but the property may have stayed primarily in the Talbott family until 1745 when it was purchased by Daniel Carcaud, a wealthy mariner. Daniel (and brother William) were some of the first pew holders of Calvert’s All Saints Church. Daniel and his wife Elizabeth had a son, David, in 1800. It is believed that David built the original three-bay, Federal house in 1825. (A Talbott descendant claimed that it took “...eleven men eleven months and eleven barrels of flour to build it.”) David died in 1831 and his widow married twice more—first to the property overseer, Irishman, John Cracklin, and then to a Mr. Sunderland.
All are buried in the family graveyard at Hampton.
In the 1840’s, a Mrs. Olivia Talbott (b. 1813), bought the house back, thus returning it to the original “clan.” She married a Mr. Harrison in 1846 by whom she had three children, Elizabeth, Rebecca Olivia and Benjamin.
Later, a seventh generation descendant of the “log-cabin-building” Talbott, Senator Joseph Francis Talbot, acquired the house. He married a Davidetta Priscilla Carcaud in 1875. It was around this time that the property came to be known as “Hampton.” This Talbott had a son, Russell Talbott, M.D. (b. November 15, 1876).
In 1943 Dr. Hugh and Mrs. Dorothy B. Ward purchased the home from Benjamin E. Talbott, Jr.
In March 2004, Barbara and David Lynn III purchased Hampton.
Architectural Highlights
In about 1844 two more bays were added off the main staircase (possibly by Mrs. Olivia Talbott Harrison), making the house more symmetrical, and thus emphasizing its Federal style. This white frame house is two and one half stories high, with a special archeological feature of having a locally-made brick foundation that is cemented together by mortar containing fossils. It has double chimneys at each end, although they are not original. The house has poplar framing with oak sills, which were hand-hewn and pit-sawn on the property.
The home’s interior doors, window frames and chair rails were made in the Greek revival style. The apple wood staircase is Federal, and on damp days, emits a faint apple fragrance. The handmade mantel in the living room is original.
An interesting feature of the interior doors is that they open from right to left, so that in earlier days a room’s occupant would have a little warning before a house servant or slave entered.
In 1946 the Wards added a pediment supported by four, two-story columns on the front, and a palladian window on the historic “old garden”, back side of the house.
Dr. Ward’s office and surgery are now being used by Barbara Lynn as her own office.
A Few Anecdotes
Hampton, while spared the ravages of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, is not without its stories, tragedies and mysteries.
There were the Civil War troops who bivouacked at Hampton, and were raiding the farm’s oxen for food, until asked to take the cows instead. The troops obliged.
In a tragic chapter of its history, early owners kept slaves. David Carcaud’s widow married a Mr. Cracklin who had his head split open by a farm slave in 1850.
There have been rumors of Hampton being haunted. Fortunately, the Lynn family has not been troubled by any unwanted “visitors.”
More Recent Events
A small electrical fire, shortly after the Lynn’s moved in, thankfully, did not do any significant damage to the house. However, it did point to an immediate need for a complete overhaul of the home’s antiquated electrical service. This project is on-going but almost complete. Hampton recently underwent sensitive restorations to its plaster walls, wood floors, and white frame exterior. Structural damage to the home’s framing by termites and time also has been repaired.
Painstaking restorations are taking place on the entire property, including the grounds, graveyard and gardens.
Barbara and David Lynn also have turned Hampton into a working horse farm, currently housing about 14 horses. The Lynn’s son, David IV and daughter Liza help with the horses and an assortment of other critters, including several cats, a number of chickens, and Max, a beautiful Yellow Labrador Retriever.
All in all, Hampton has a timeless serenity, whether its fields are smothered in winter’s ice and snow, or ablaze in autumn’s vibrant leaf colors. One visit will push your daily cares aside with the blessings of its rolling hills, architectural beauty, and the peacefully grazing horses.