Pleasant Prospect facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Pleasant Prospect
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General View of East (Front) Elevation, HABS Photo
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 Location in Maryland
Location in the United States
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| Location | 12806 Woodmore Rd., Mitchellville, Maryland |
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| Area | 10 acres (4.0 ha) |
| Built | 1798 |
| Built by | Duckett, Isaac |
| Architectural style | Federal, Adamesque |
| NRHP reference No. | 76002168 |
| Added to NRHP | April 30, 1976 |
Pleasant Prospect is a historic house located in Mitchellville, Maryland. It's a fantastic example of a Federal style house from the late 1700s. The main part of the house has two and a half stories and a full basement. It also has a two-story kitchen connected by a short, one-story hallway called a hyphen. This type of kitchen and hallway was common for houses in Southern Maryland during that time.
The walls of the house are made with a special brick pattern called Flemish bond. The chimneys are also unique to Maryland, being wide on the sides but thin and tall above the roof.
Contents
What Makes Pleasant Prospect Special?
Inside, Pleasant Prospect has amazing decorations from the Federal period. You can see fancy Adamesque designs, which include detailed moldings and plasterwork. These decorations feature shapes like garlands (chains of flowers or leaves), swags (draped fabric designs), and urns (vase-like shapes). They are found on doorways and fireplaces.
Outside the main house, there's a small log building with a pyramid-shaped roof. This was a smokehouse, used long ago for preserving meat.
Documenting History
The special design and features of Pleasant Prospect have been recorded by the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). This group keeps detailed records of important buildings in the United States. They documented Pleasant Prospect in 1936 and again in 1983.
These records show that Pleasant Prospect was a very large and well-decorated house for its time. It had a big main hall, a formal living room, a separate dining room, and even a library on the first floor. This shows how wealthy and elegant the families living in Prince George's County were in the late 1700s and early 1800s.
The History of Pleasant Prospect
Pleasant Prospect was built around 1798 for Dr. Isaac Duckett. He was a very wealthy and important person in the state at that time. In 1798, a government tax record described the house as "a new Two story Brick dwelling, very elegantly furnished." It was one of only a few houses in Prince George's County valued at $1,500 or more back then, which was a lot of money!
Pleasant Prospect is one of three large estates built by the Duckett family in Prince George's County. The other two are Fairview, built by Isaac Duckett's brother Baruch around 1800, and Melford, built in the 1840s.
Protecting Important Places
Because of its historical importance, Pleasant Prospect was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. This is a list of places in the United States that are important to history and should be protected.
Gallery
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General View of East (Front) Showing Historic Approach to the House
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Perspective View of East (Front) Looking Southwest
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Perspective View of the West (Rear) of the Main Block, Looking Northeast
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Federal Style Door Detail
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Detail of Newel Post and Balustrade of Stairway
Images for kids
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Pleasant Prospect in Winter 2016
- Pleasant Prospect, Prince George's County, Inventory No.: PG:74A-6, at Maryland Historical Trust website
