Friendship House was built in the mid 1700s on a site overlooking Nanjemoy Creek in western Charles County by a member of the Dent family. The "Friendship" Dents were actually involved in their community, serving in prominent positions in county and state government.
Friendship House has a unique architectural style originating in medieval England. Features such as a steep pitch of the roof and the Hall and Parlor design with timber framing were common to the houses of prosperous English farmers.
Friendship House is typical of a Tidewater settler's house from the 1700s.
(Image of an interior wall.
An example of brick noggin was left exposed in the house.
The original house was constructed in two stages, the first stage consisting of a Hall that served as a living, dining, and perhaps bedroom and above it, a small Bedroom Chamber. A stone walled, earthen floor cellar was immediately beneath the Hall. Later, two other rooms were added, a downstairs Parlor and a second upstairs Bedroom Chamber.
Original construction was brick noggin for exterior walls. Clapboard was added at a later date with a layer of mud for insulation between the brick noggin and the clapboard. Wood shingles were used for the roofing, probably replacing an original marsh grass roof.
(Logos
for the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium and the College of Southern Maryland Foundation.)
This sign is made possible by the Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium, the Maryland Heritage Authority and the CSM Foundation.
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