The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1935-07-30
NOW
Mulberry Hills
Colonial Charm
HANSONS' HOME
BY HELEN ESSARY

8Sb AVA AAAN'
Not Sultan's beautiful daugh.
ter. How could I be happy with
such competition in my own
household?
Nor a casket Of rubieS and
emeraldS.. 1 should be afraid
to wear them. They would have
to stay in a safe deposit vault.
Nor a beautiful handmaiden.
Shed never be able to make
corn mullins.
! Nor a gorgeous palace. A pal
ace would overwhelm me with
its excessive grandeur.
No. None of these extrava'
gances would tempt me. I should
ask the Slave of the Lamp for a
cheerful, rambling house-with
Q view.
Round about it must be forests
and fields, water and sky. Miles
and miles of changing sky
reaching into nowhere. To the
end of the world, perhaps.
There may be a house in the
distance. Just a glimpse of a
house, But it must be far, far
away. I don't want to recognize
its garage and its clothesline.
At the foot of my hill there
must be swift water, rushing
eagerly away to meet bigger
and bolder streams. And small
inlets of lazy water, curling
pleasantly around jutting prom
ontories and sandy beaches.
Of course, there will have to
be a road leading to my house.
But it must be a winding road.
Meandering gently up the
mountain side, turning slowly
and comfortably about until it
ends unexpectedly at the sum-
NIT of my domain.
I know where there is such
a house. Such a setting. It is
at Mulberry Hill, the old Han
son estate in Charles county,
Maryland, high on a hillside
overlooking Port Tobacco Creek
an estuary of the Chesapeake.
Once at the foot of the hill
was a little town, Port Tobacco,
set cozily in the bowl Of the hill.
Port Tobacco Creek was then a
horbor, famous for its export
trade in tobacco. Now the chan
mel has grown very shallow.
Only pleasure and fishing boats
venture into the shoals.
The town has almost van
ished. Some of the old manor
houses which clustered on the
hills are still there. Most OF
these were occupied once by
men famous in the history OF
Charles county and in the
colonies generally.
Dana Stevens, Of Cincinnati,
was wandering about the Port
Tobacco neighborhood when he
discovered Mulberry Hill. Rec
ognized it as the house where
John Hanson, Signer of the
Declaration of Independence.
first President of the United
States in Congress assembled,
and representative of Maryland
in the Hall of Fame in the
Capitol, lived as a young man.
The house was dilapidated.
Little trace of its fine wood
work remained. The gardens
were lost in weeds and the
fields untitled.
Architects, expert in Colonial
construction, were called to the
hill overlooking Port Tobacco
Greek. They conferred long
and earnestly over the houses
proper restoration. They agreed
that there was nothing to do
but to rebuild, keeping close to
the original lines.
The work was begun and
carried on with this object in
view, The size and shape of the
rooms were change d. The
pleasant center hall, character
istic of all colonial houses, was
left as it had been.
The mantelS of the restored
Mulberry Hill are of excellent
design. In. the library the cary
ing suggests the linen-fold pat
tern used in furniture. Lengths
Of delicately carved wood run
behind the drawing room mantel
to the ceiling. At each side of
the hearth are graceful pilasters.
The gardens are more beauti-
full than ever. Before the house
they slope down the hillside in
poisoning terraces.
The HanSonS, of whom John
was the most famous, were dis
tinguiShed in the colonies. The
first HanSons-Andrew, John,
Randall and William-were
wards of Queen Christina Of
Sweden. They sailed across the
ocean in 1912 as special charges
Of Lieut.. Col. John Printz, gov
ernor of New Sweden-or Della.
ware.
Some Of the Hanson brothers
went to Maryland. Settled in
Kent Island and became much
concerned in the independent
doings Of William Claiborne.
John Hanson, the grandson of
the first John, lived in Charles
county, Maryland. Three years
before the Declaration of indie.
pendence, he moved west into
Frederick county.
After the Revolution, one Of
John HanSon'S most important
official acts was the diSnatch