Historic Home Blog

CONCIERGE AUCTIONS TO PRESENT THE HISTORIC ROCKLAND ESTATE
IN FAIRPLAY, MD AT AUCTION ON JUNE 11
25-Acre Equestrian Estate with 8,600-Square-Foot Manse
Originally Listed for $2.75 Million – Reserve $1.325 Million
Fairplay, MD—May 11, 2010 – Concierge Auctions will host a luxury home auction of the
historic Rockland estate at 9030 Sharpsburg Pike in Fairplay, Maryland on June 11,
announced Laura Brady, Co-Founder and Vice President of Marketing for Concierge
Auctions.
Originally listed for $2.75 million, the 25-plus acre equestrian estate, with an 8,600-squarefoot
manse, is selling with a reserve of $1.325 million and a pre-sale estimate of $1.325
million to $1.8 million. The sale is being conducted in cooperation with Gary Gestson, a
certified Historic Property Specialist with Long & Foster Real Estate.
Located in scenic Washington County, the estate is less than a 90-minute drive from both
Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and approximately three hours from Philadelphia.
“The Rockland estate is one of the County’s most notable historic properties,” Gestson
stated. “The manse’s major area of significance is its architecture, particularly its Victorian
period alterations.”
Built circa 1803 by Colonel Frisby Tilghman, son of Maryland’s first attorney general, the
three-story, seven bay stone and brick manse is listed on the Maryland Inventory of
Historic Sites and is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.
At one time, Rockland was the largest slave holding estate in Washington County. James
W.C. Pennington, the famed abolitionist and author, escaped from slavery at Rockland in
1827. Given its important association to Pennington, Rockland has also been designated
as an official site of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom by the U.S.
Department of the Interior.
The Victorian enhancements to the mansion were likely made in the last part of the 19th
century, when the house was purchased by General Thomas T. McKaig. The most
dominant feature is the Federal-style suspended staircase in the south wing, which spirals
from the ground floor to the third floor attic. An oval skylight with curved munitions
illuminates the stairs.
Today the 25-plus acres surrounding Rockland include a turnkey horse farm with lush
fenced pastures. Current owners Michael Moreland and Jason Daisey purchased the
property in 2004 and have completed many modern infrastructure improvements to the
manse, including installing central air conditioning, extensively remodeling the kitchen, and
constructing a 3,000-bottle wine cellar in one of the basement rooms.
Avid equestrians and foxhunters, Moreland and Daisey have also made significant
renovations to the property’s smaller bank barn as well as installing fencing and
establishing paddocks. They recently embarked on an extensive landscaping plan,
installing the formal gardens and walkway surrounding the house and planting over 300
trees and shrubbery.
“Our April 10 auction of historic Tulip Hill in Harwood, Maryland, proved that truly rare,
historically-significant properties are of great interest in today’s market,” Brady stated.
“The challenge is identifying value, which our process accomplishes in a transparent, open
bidding atmosphere. The upcoming auction of Rockland not only represents the
opportunity to purchase a remarkable, storied property, but also the ability for the high
bidder to name the price.”
The auction of the historic Rockland estate at 9030 Sharpsburg Pike in Fairplay, Maryland
will be held on Friday, June 11 at 11am EDT. Attendance will be limited to registered
bidders and their representatives. The estate is available for preview daily from 11am to
1pm and by appointment. View Terms and Conditions of Sale for full details. For more
information, visit www.RocklandAuction.com or call 866-605-7286.
About James W.C. Pennington (Cited from hallowedground.org): Born Jim Pembroke,
James W. C. Pennington escaped from slavery at Rockland, the home of Frisby Tilghman,
in 1827. From this modest beginning he eventually won world renown. After staying six
months with Quakers William and Phebe Wright in Adams County, Pennsylvania,
Pennington settled in New York. Working first as a coachman, he found spiritual guidance
from Presbyterian minister Dr. S. H. Cox and experienced a religious awakening in 1829.
At the same time he became involved in abolitionist activities and found them compatible
with his study of religion. In 1834 he moved to Connecticut where he audited classes in
Theology at Yale University and pastored Temple Street Congregational Church, a black
congregation. Under his leadership, his church championed abolition and civil rights, and
Pennington spoke widely on those issues. In 1841 he wrote and published one of the first
histories of Africans in America. The same year he became founding president of the
Union Missionary Society and raised money for the kidnapped Africans on the slave ship
Amistad to return home. As the Connecticut delegate to the World Anti-Slavery Convention
in London in 1843, Pennington developed an international reputation as a human rights
advocate. Pennington publicly told the story of his early life in The Fugitive Blacksmith, first
published in 1849. It sold briskly and remains one of the most acclaimed of all slave
narratives. That same year the University of Heidelburg recognized his international
achievements by awarding him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. He attended world
peace and abolition conferences in Great Britain and spoke publicly to raise
consciousness and funds for the cause. His involvement in the Underground Railroad
included his own escape, his book, and his assistance to freedom seekers including
several family members.
About Colonel Frisby Tilghman (cited from hollowedground.org): Frisby Tilghman was the
eldest son of James Tilghman of Queen Anne’s County, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore
of the Chesapeake Bay. Like many sons of planters from eastern Maryland, Frisby
migrated to the western part of the state in the late eighteenth century, where land was
plentiful and comparatively low-priced. Trained as a doctor, he married the wealthy Anna
Maria Ringgold and turned his hand to farming instead. He helped found a local
agricultural society and an academy and earned a reputation as a progressive farmer.
Active in civic life, he served four terms in the Maryland House of Delegates, promoted the
C&O Canal project, served on bank boards of directors, and formed and commanded a
militia unit (he was known as Colonel Tilghman).
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