Constructed 1703-1705 by Philemon Hemsley (1670-1719), a well-connected first-generation Marylander who amassed a fortune as a merchant and planter, and expanded by two successive generations of descendants, Cloverfields serves as a landmark in early American architecture.  Dendrochronology confirms Cloverfields as one of Maryland’s oldest buildings. Architectural significance derives from the wide display of rare, distinctive, and finely crafted construction methods and decorative features. In addition, Cloverfields attains further importance as the lifelong home of Revolutionary War militia officer and statesman Col. William Hemsley (1736-1812).

A careful four-year restoration effort has returned the house and grounds to their ca. 1784 appearance, when it was the home of Col. Hemsley, second wife Sarah Williamson, and probably nine children. The restoration team selected this date as it corresponds with the conclusion of a decades-long campaign of redesign and expansion and shows Cloverfields as it appeared immediately after the war when the estate and family were at their zenith.

Contrasting with the spacious and well-appointed rooms used by family and friends are highly intact work and living spaces associated with the domestic workforce, most of whom were enslaved.  The 1705 attic rooms are particularly well preserved and further our understanding of life at the periphery of the household.

Significance extends to the landscape immediately surrounding the dwelling.  The recreated formal gardens and workyard are based on extensive archaeological excavations and geophysical surveys.   At the front of the house, the terraced gardens and bowling greens recreate the carefully curated outdoor space used by the family for public entertaining and private enjoyment.  A fence visually and physically separates this place of beauty and pleasure from the kitchen workyard, where enslaved workers carried out many of the messier and tiresome day-to-day tasks associated with household operations. 

Cloverfields is privately owned but available for visit by prior arrangement.

By: Sherri Marsh Johns, for the Cloverfields Preservation Foundation