Front side of Haber de Venture

Tours of Thomas Stone’s home, Haber de Venture, are given on demand from 11 AM to 3:15 PM. When I visited on a Friday in May, there were so few visitors that the Ranger gave me a personal tour. In fact, he had just finished giving some other people a personal tour as well. The park is one of the least visited in the National Park system with only 6,000 people coming each year, an average of 18 people a day, so I doubt there is ever a busy season, and thus no need to make people wait for a set tour time.

Staffing at the park is sparse, so there may only be one Ranger on duty. When giving the house tour, the Visitor Center is locked and a sign is placed on the door directing you to drive down to the house and join the ongoing tour. This is what I did, but when I arrived the tour was almost over. I opted to return to the Visitor Center to watch the park film and read through the exhibits, and when done, the Ranger and I drove back down to the house for my own tour.

The focus of the tour is on Stone himself, not necessarily the house, and the Ranger who I was with knew just about everything there was to know about the man and his family, so the talk was very informative. I ended up spending an entire hour at the house, though the Thomas Stone National Historic Site website claims the tour only lasts thirty minutes. If you show interest in the place and ask a lot of questions, and no other guests show up, the Ranger can go on for quite a while.

Thomas Stone purchased his estate in 1770 and most likely started construction on the house in 1771, finishing in 1772, a date inscribed by family members on a few of the bricks. Stone ran a small plantation and raised livestock on the property, but the estate served primarily as his residence. He lived at Haber de Venture with his wife and three children until moving to Annapolis in 1783, though he retained ownership of the plantation. The property remained in the Stone family until being sold in 1936. Stone’s descendants still live in the area and often stop by the park.

Haber de Venture remained occupied until 1977, at which time the main house was destroyed by a fire that left only the brick walls standing. A year later the Thomas Stone National Historic Site was created, and in 1981 the National Park Service purchased the estate with the intent of restoring the house. There were no paintings of the house from Stone’s time, so the exterior was restored to its 1901 appearance, documented by the earliest known photos. The restoration is considered to be one of the best in the country. To this day, the National Park Service uses the house to train people on historical structure restoration.

Back side of Haber de Venture

If you look at Haber de Venture from the outside, you will see that two large buildings are attached to the main house by what are known as hyphens. Each can easily constitute a home on its own. These exterior structures were added shortly after Stone’s father died in 1773. Tradition dictated that the oldest son—Thomas—must take in and care for his five younger siblings. The buildings provided extra room for the expanded family.

The western hyphen, which connects to the larger of the two exterior buildings, is thought to have been built in 1775. A second story was added to it around 1929, but was removed by the National Park Service because it did not exist in 1901.

The building that the western hyphen now connects to is not the original building on the location, which may have burned down in the early 1800s. The current building was constructed on the original’s foundation in the 1840s. The bottom floor was used as a kitchen, while the upper floor contains bedrooms. Most likely the original building was also used as a kitchen.

The eastern building—the smaller structure with the gambrel roof—is known as the Thomas Stone law office. It is also thought to have been built around 1775, but most likely it was moved here from another location because it does not sit properly on its foundation.

The eastern hyphen is not an enclosed building as is its western counterpart, but simply a covered walkway. Furthermore, it only butts up to the side of the law office, not to an entrance door. You must exit the law office from another side and walk around the corner to get to the walkway.

Slightly different angle of Haber de Venture

Of the interior rooms, the East and West Rooms, the western hyphen, and the north kitchen (located in the large exterior building) are visited during the house tour. All are furnished as they would have been when Stone and his family lived in the house, though except for one item, the furniture is comprised of period antiques and reproductions.

North Kitchen

The East Room where Stone did most of his work was completely destroyed in the 1977 fire, yet it has been restored to its exact appearance despite no existing photos. How this was possible is quite interesting. In 1928, the Stone descendants who owned the house needed money and decided to sell it. The Baltimore Museum of Art was not interested in the entire house, but the curators did want to purchase the East Room. A deal was made and the paneling, moldings, and all other ornamental features were removed and reassembled at the museum. When it came time to restore the room, the National Park Service was able to craft an exact reproduction of the interior. The original paneling is still in the museum.

East Room of the Haber de Venture mansion

As mentioned, only one item in the house is original—Thomas Stone’s writing desk. This is located in the East Room.

Original desk of Thomas Stone

The West Room was the bedroom. Stone’s wife, Margaret, spent much of her time here, as she was very sick for the later part of her life. In 1776 she was inoculated for small pox and had an extreme reaction to the mercury used in the vaccine. Over time her health declined and she became an invalid. She died on June 3, 1787, at age 36. Four months later, so distraught over his wife’s death that he failed to care for his own health, Thomas died suddenly in Annapolis while preparing for a much needed vacation to England.

West room of Haber de Venture

One item of interest at Haber de Venture is an 1818 commemorative engraving of the Declaration of Independence that was given to the Stone family and hung in the East Room of the house. This was donated to the park in 1996.

Thomas Stone’s reproduction copy of the Declaration of Independence

There are a few other artifacts on display as well, including broken houseware items recovered during excavations done when the house was restored. Thousands of items were found, but there are only so many broken plates and bottles that anyone would want to look at, which is why only a limited number are exhibited at the park.

Display of artifacts found during an excavation of Haber de Venture

After the house tour you can visit the Stone Family Cemetery, only a five minute’s walk away, and a few out buildings such as a barn and corn crib. These were built in the 1840s by Stone’s descendants. Since they were here prior to 1901, the National Park Service did not tear them down. See the Grounds Hike web page for details on a hike around the entire property that stops at all points of interest.

Back to the Top