BECKFORD

Prominently sited on the western edge of Princess Anne, Beckford was built for John Dennis, who served in the Maryland House of Delegates and from 1797 to 1805 in the U.S. House of Representatives. This house is indicative of the shift from Georgian to Federal design starting to appear around the state. Although five-bays wide and three-bays deep with robust proportions, Beckford features slender chimneys and finely detailed ornamentation rather than the thick moldings characteristic of the late eighteenth century. Shallow plaster panels at the belt course between the first and second floor are similar to those seen at the Teackle Mansion, built around the same time.

Inside, the first floor is divided into five rooms, three across the front, with a stair hall at the center, and the two principal rooms at the rear. The finest molded plaster decorations and mantels decorated with neoclassical urns and swags, likely imported from Philadelphia, appear in these parlors. The architectural sophistication and fine craftmanship of Beckford illustrate the prominence of the Dennis family and Princess Anne’s growing importance as a port on the Manokin River at the turn of the nineteenth century.