Council of Garden Clubs Offers Holiday Tours of Waverly Mansion 12/7-8

By Cassie Felch
Posted: November 26, 2008

The Howard County Council of Garden Clubs is sponsoring its annual holiday makeover of Waverly Mansion, with tours available Dec. 7 from 1-4 and Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. - noon, and candlelight tours offered between 6:30 and 9:00 on Dec. 8. Die Liedersanger Madrigal Singers will perform during the Dec. 7 tours and also during the evening tours on the 8th. Enjoy this chance to view an interesting part of our county’s history!

According to “The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland,” by J. D. Warfield, Waverly Mansion once housed two of our state’s most distinguished founding families, the Dorseys and the Howards. Nathan Dorsey first built the main house between 1756 and 1764 upon a tract of land known then as “Ranter’s Ridge.” His father, Colonel John Dorsey, was one of the first commissioners of Baltimore City.

In 1786, Col. John Eager Howard purchased the mansion to give to his son George. The elder Howard, our county’s namesake, soon thereafter became the fifth governor of Maryland (1788-1790), and his son later became the 25th governor (1831-1833). The Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks Web site explains that George Howard and his wife, Prudence, named the mansion after Sir Walter Scott’s first novel, Waverley, published in 1814.

During this holiday season, 10 different Howard County garden clubs will join forces to decorate the mansion, each taking responsibility for a separate room. To view their handiwork, visit the estate at 2300 Waverly Mansion Drive in Marriottsville. The tour costs $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and $2 for children. The garden clubs will also offer wreaths and other holiday decorations for sale during the tours.

For more about the mansion, call 410-313-5400 or go to www.co.ho.md.us/RAP/rap_waverly.htm. For information about Howard County garden clubs, please speak to a member during one of the tours.

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