Carroll Family

The first public explanation of the new plan for building as many as 325 single-family homes in the northeast corner of historic Doughoregan Manor is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Ellicott City Senior Center, next to the Miller Library on Frederick Road. The session, called a "pre-submission meeting" in planning jargon, will let the public to hear an explanation of the proposal from the Carroll family's representatives before any plans are submitted to the county. Joseph Rutter, a former county planning director hired by the family, said they hope to stick to the division of land under a previous plan to build an Erickson retirement community on the site.

The plan to cluster hundreds of new homes in the northeast corner of historic Doughoregan Manor and preserve the rest of the estate took a big step forward Monday night when the County Council unanimously approved the extension of public water and sewer to the property. The next step is a county Zoning Board hearing May 12, when the board - composed of the five council members - will consider a zoning change for the land. The Ellicott City estate is the only home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence still in family hands, and the descendants of Charles Carroll have shown a determination for nearly 300 years to preserve their family home and keep the public away.

As about 100 people watched, prime Ellicott City land owned by descendants of a Declaration of Independence signer was auctioned off on the steps of the Howard County Circuit Courthouse yesterday - and was promptly bought for $12.5 million by four of the family members, who plan to build houses there. The 270-acre parcel sits to the south of the Carroll family's Doughoregan Manor, the stately home where Founding Father Charles Carroll once lived. Two branches of the family jointly owned the tract and were on the verge of battling over the fate of the land in court this year when both agreed to the auction.

The plan to cluster hundreds of new homes in the northeast corner of historic Doughoregan Manor and preserve the rest of the estate took a big step forward Monday night when the Howard County Council unanimously approved the extension of public water and sewer utilities to the property. The next step is a county Zoning Board hearing scheduled for May 12, during which the board -- composed of the five council members -- will consider a zoning change for the land. The historic estate is the only home of a signer of the Declaration of Independence still in family hands, and the descendants of Charles Carroll, the signer, have shown a fierce determination over nearly 300 years to both preserve their family home and keep the public away.

The kitchen at Mount Clare, the Colonial mansion of Charles Carroll the Barrister in Southwest Baltimore, was, on the one hand, a modern foodie's dream - airy, spacious and chock-full of locally grown, organic, hormone-free meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. But there were some down sides. Those vegetables, this time of year, would be limited to carrots, onions and other roots waiting to be exhumed from the dirt floor of the cellar. And the meat, larded for as long as three years in casks of salt, would look about as succulent as a piece of petrified wood.

Members of two separate branches of Maryland's historic Carroll family have submitted plans to Howard County to sell the building rights they hold on several chunks of historic Doughoregan Manor to builders in other parts of the county, preserving the land for agriculture. If approved by Howard County officials, the proposed sales would give developers the right to build on 237 acres of land elsewhere in the county, keep two large Doughoregan Manor tracts undeveloped, and bring in over $9 million for the Carroll descendents, based on the county's top price for prime preservation land.

A portrait of Prudence Carnan Gough by John Wesley Jarvis (1780-1840) and three cabinet-sized portraits of members of the James Macubbin Carroll Jr. family by William James Hubard (1807-1862) have been given to the Mount Clare Museum House in Carroll Park in Southwest Baltimore by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America. The portraits will be added to the collection of 12 portraits of family members already on display at the mansion.Mount Clare was the home of Charles Carroll, Barrister (1723-83)

Doughoregan Manor has been the home of the Carroll family since Colonial times. The first Charles Carroll, known as the Settler or Immigrant, was the progenitor of the Carroll family in Maryland. He arrived in the colony on Oct. 1, 1688, having been named attorney general under Charles Calvert, the third Lord Baltimore. Carroll, a Catholic, had been dispossessed of his estate at Ballymacadam Castle, the main seat of the O'Carrolls in the Irish midlands, through English persecution, according to Ronald Hoffman in his book, Princes of Ireland, Planters of Maryland.

From The Sun Oct. 7-13, 1840Oct. 10: We call the attention of those of our readers who have had the misfortune to lose a limb, to take the advertisement in today's Sun, of Charles Bartlett, the celebrated manufacturer of cork legs, &c.From The Sun Oct. 7-13, 1890Oct. 13: Wild turkeys are more numerous in Garrett County than they have been for many years.From The Sun Oct. 7-13, 1940Oct. 11: David Cross, former Negro slave and for decades a coachman for the Carroll family of Doughoregan Manor, died yesterday at the age of 97. He had been living with his daughter, at Ellicott City.

Howard County, which began July 4, 1851, as a western outpost of neighboring Anne Arundel County, has started celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion and give readers a sense of what life was like in Howard County 150 years ago, the Howard County edition of The Sun will publish a column on county history and the people who were part of it. The column will appear every Tuesday through the school year on Page 3B. This week's column traces the role of Charles Carroll of Carrollton (above)

Extending public water and sewer lines to allow 325 new homes at Doughoregan Manor appeared to get a boost Monday during a three-hour County Council discussion of the proposal to develop part of the historic Ellicott City estate. Every county official questioned by council members on issues brought up by critics said the Carroll family's plan is the best way to proceed, though some issues - such as what to do with wastewater - defy easy answers. Under the proposal, the new homes would be clustered in the northeast corner of the 892-acre estate, 34 acres would be donated for the expansion of a county park and the money raised through the development would enable preservation of the rest of the property.

Public testimony was split evenly last week over whether Howard County should negotiate an agreement with a developer that would allow construction of 325 homes at historic Doughoregan Manor while preserving most of the Colonial estate's remaining land. "We heard a lot of good testimony on both sides of the issue," said County Council Chairwoman Courtney Watson. She said the council will hold a work session Monday to address concerns raised during the testimony. Watson and the rest of the council heard from more than 50 people Monday and Tuesday nights about plans for the estate in Ellicott City.

Expressing fears about worsening traffic and suburban sprawl, most Howard residents in the standing-room-only crowd who attended Thursday night's county planning board hearing strongly opposed the Carroll family's proposal to develop part of historic Doughoregan Manor in Ellicott City. The nearly 300-year-old estate belongs to descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. After an earlier deal fell through, the Carroll family wants to cluster new homes in the northeast corner of the 892-acre property to raise millions of dollars to preserve and restore the rest of it. The vigorous opposition - so many people attended that the hearing will continue Feb. 4 - contrasts with community acceptance of an earlier plan to use the land for an Erickson retirement community of 2,000 apartments.

Howard County is offering to add 1,000 acres of farmland to its Agricultural Land Preservation Program - including 500 acres on historic Doughoregan Manor, the nearly 300-year-old estate that belongs to descendants of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The offers to seven landowners out of 13 applicants represent the largest potential addition to the county's 20,500 acres of preserved land in many years. The recession and the slowdown in development have made the program - in which the county pays up to $40,000 per acre over 20 years, plus interest for the property to remain undeveloped - much more attractive.

The Carrolls of Doughoregan Manor may hear the call of family history in crafting plans for 325 new homes on an eastern portion of their historic property, but their more recent neighbors are more attuned to the sounds of honking auto horns and crunched fenders. At a required community information meeting Wednesday night at the Ellicott City Senior Center, residents along Frederick Road complained that the two entrances for the new development planned along that designated scenic road would worsen already severe congestion.

50 Years Ago (week of March 2-8, 1941):* Fire engine companies from Ellicott City, Sykesville and Sandy Spring battled a fire this week at Doughoregan Manor. The manor house and surrounding buildings were untouched by the flames, but nearly 150 acres of ground were burned in the two hours before the fire was brought under control. Doughoregan Manor was once the home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one ofthe signers of the Declaration of Independence. The estate remains in the Carroll family to this day.Information for this column was culled from the Howard County Historical Society's Library.

Flowers by designPeople have walked into Andrea Stieff's new studio, seen a thousand flowers there, and been amazed that none is for sale. "I tell them they're already spoken-for," she says with a laugh.She's not a florist, but one of the area's premier floral designers. Her specialty is important events. From high-end weddings to the Maryland Historical Society's antiques show to a home decorated for a spread in Southern Accents, Stieff has done them all.Andrea Stieff Designs is open by appointment only; call (410)