Thomas Stone’s Habre de Venture home, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

Tours of Thomas Stone’s home, Habre de Venture, are given at 10:30 AM and 1 PM whenever Thomas Stone National Historic Site is open (currently weekends only). Keep in mind that times can always change, so be sure to check the National Park Service’s Tours of the Thomas Stone House web page for the current schedule.

There is no charge for a tour of Habre de Venture, but you must sign up at the Visitor Center. This is not so that you can get on the list before the tour is full, it’s so that the Ranger knows somebody is interested at all. The park is one of the least visited in the National Park system with less than 5,000 people coming each year. If you don’t let the Ranger know you are interested in a tour, there might not be one.

Ranger gives a tour of Habre de Venture at Thomas Stone National Historic Site

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, 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 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 Habre 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.

Habre 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 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 drawings or paintings of the house from Stone’s time, so the exterior was restored to its 1901 appearance, a date documented by the earliest known photographs. 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.

Rear of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

There are two large additions to the main house that are attached to the east and west ends by what are known as hyphens. Each addition 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 extended family.

The western addition (the larger of the two) is not the original building, 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 contained bedrooms. It is thought that the original building was also used as a kitchen. The hyphen is thought to have been built in 1775. A second story was added to it around 1929, but it was removed by the National Park Service because it did not exist in 1901.

Western addition and hyphen of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

The eastern addition—the smaller structure with the gambrel roof—is known as the Thomas Stone law office. Historians believe that it was built around 1775, but most likely it was moved here from another location because it does not sit properly on its foundation. Its connecting hyphen is simply a covered walkway, not an enclosed building as is its western counterpart. 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.

Eastern addition to Habre de Venture was used as Thomas Stone’s law office, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

Of the interior rooms, the East and West Rooms, the western hyphen, and the north kitchen (located in the western addition) are visited during the house tour. All are furnished as they may 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 of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

West Hyphen of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

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 photographs. 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 based on the original paneling.

East Room of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

East Room of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

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 on display in the East Room of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

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 she ingested as part of the treatment. Over time her health declined to the point that 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 Alexandria, Virginia, while preparing for a much needed vacation to England.

West Room of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

West Room of Habre de Venture, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

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

Corn crib and tobacco barn on the Habre de Venture estate, Thomas Stone National Historic Site

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