Colonial House--

If I were to instruct you to put your John Hancock on the dotted line you would know exactly what I meant--your signature. But if I were to ask you to put your Thomas Strong down instead of your John Hancock, chances are you would look at me and say, “My what?” Having seen for myself the Declaration of Independence, I, would have studiously answered (if asked the same question), “Ah, yes; his signature--Thomas Strong's-- appears on the Declaration of Independence, and is the third name down from Mr. Hancock’s.” Actually, I would not have known his name from that of "Charles Carroll of Carrollton" (Carroll’s name appears just below Stone’s).

Okay, now to the reason for which I write: Most recently I toured Mr. Strong’s house in Southeast Maryland, and got a clear picture of how the Colonial hoity-toity of the hoi polloi lived. I have to say that I was amazed at the home’s matter-of-fact, functionality--of course, I have yet to visit Mount Vernon or Monticello. Strong’s home was modestly adorned inside with restrained, detailed molding, and a flash of color; not opulent by any means. Nope, it t’weren’t much to gawk at.

Front of Colonial House with Wings called "Hyphens"

Strong began to build onto the original house in the latter half of the 1770’s, and he named his plantation, Haberdeventure, which translates to: “dwelling place of the winds.” I was a little windy myself that day!

You will have to admit that they sure loved their coffee or is that a soup bowl at the head of their bed?

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