View source for His Lordship's Kindness

{{short description|Historic house in Maryland, United States}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name                 = His Lordship's Kindness
| nrhp_type            = nhl
| image                = His Lordships Kindness North Dec 08.JPG
| caption              = His Lordship's Kindness - North Front, December 2008
| location             = 3.5 miles northwest of Rosaryville off Rosaryville Rd., near [[Rosaryville, Maryland]]
| coordinates          = {{coord|38|46|44|N|76|50|34|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin             = Maryland#USA
| area                 = {{convert|150|acre|ha}}
| built                = 1786
| architect            =
| architecture         = Georgian
| designated_nrhp_type = April 15, 1970<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1031&ResourceType=Building|title=His Lordship's Kindness (Poplar Hill)|access-date=2008-06-16|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090309083254/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=1031&ResourceType=Building|archive-date=2009-03-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| added                = April 15, 1970<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2008a}}</ref>
| refnum               = 70000853
}}
'''His Lordship's Kindness''', also known as '''Poplar Hill''', is a historic plantation estate on Woodyard Road east of [[Clinton, Maryland]].  It was built in the 1780s for [[Prince George's County, Maryland|Prince George's County]] planter Robert Darnall.  The five-part [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]] mansion retains a number of subsidiary buildings including a slave's hospital and a [[dovecote]].<ref name="mht_ihp">{{cite web|url=https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-38.pdf |title=National Register of Historic Places Registration: His Lordship's Kindness|date=July 1974|access-date=2015-08-01 |author=Patricia Heintzelman and Charles W. Snell |publisher=Maryland Historical Trust}}</ref>  The property is now operated as a museum by a local nonprofit preservation group.  It was designated a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1970.
==History==
[[File:Henry Darnall I.JPG|left|thumb|150px|Col. Henry Darnall]]
Colonel [[Henry Darnall]] was granted {{convert|7000|acre|km2}} of land in [[Prince George's County, Maryland]] in 1703 by [[Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore]], which Darnall named in recognition of Lord Baltimore's gesture. Darnall built a house for his family on a nearby property, known as [[Woodyard Archeological Site|The Woodyard]], between 1683 and 1711.
On Henry Darnall's death in 1711, the properties passed to his son, [[Henry Darnall II]], who was forced to dispose of much of his father's accumulated {{convert|35000|acre|km2}} of property to clear his debts before leaving the country. His son, [[Henry Darnall III]] received the remaining {{convert|1300|acre|km2}} from his father, including {{convert|300|acre|km2}} of the original grant with a mansion, which became known as Poplar Hill by the 1740s.  Henry III, however, was found in 1761 to be embezzling money from one of his appointed positions, causing a bond to be forfeited and for fines to be paid by Henry's guarantors, his brother John Darnall, and [[Charles Carroll of Annapolis]].<ref>Father of [[Charles Carroll of Carrollton]].</ref>
Henry III's brother [[Robert Darnall]] found the means to buy back the original grant and replaced the original house with the present structure, completed in 1786. Darnall, who died childless in 1803, left the property to his nephew Robert Sewall. Sewall in turn left the property to his son Robert Darnall Sewall. The son in turn left the property to two nieces, Susan and Ellen Daingerfield of [[Alexandria, Virginia]], in 1853. In 1865 Susan Daingerfield married future [[US Senator]] [[John S. Barbour Jr.|John Strode Barbour]].
Through the next hundred years, the property passed through a number of hands, including [[David K.E. Bruce]], [[Chandler Hale]], and the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington|Catholic Archdiocese of Washington]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poplarhillonhlk.com/timeline.htm|title=Timeline|date=2008-06-12|work= Poplar Hill on His Lordship's Kindness|publisher= The John M. and Sara R. Walton Foundation, Inc.}}</ref>
==Description==
His Lordship's Kindness is a five-part ensemble with a hipped-roof central block measuring {{convert|56|ft|m}} wide by {{convert|48|ft|m}} deep. The central block is 2½ stories tall, with dormers in the rear elevation. It is connected to two -1/2 story end pavilions by single-story [[hyphen (architecture)|hyphens]].  The eastern pavilion contained the kitchen, while a chapel was located in the west pavilion. The kitchen was renovated as a study in the 1920s but retained an interior balcony. The main block features a projecting bay containing the recessed entry door with fanlight, pilasters and pediment, and a large [[Palladian window]] on the second story. The facade's other windows have stone sills and [[flat arch]] lintels. The rear, or garden elevation is similarly composed, but lacks the projecting bay, and the door is less elaborately detailed.<ref name="nrhpinv1">{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=70000853}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination: His Lordship's Kindness|last=Heintzelman|first=Patricia|author2=Snell, Charles W.|date=July 30, 1974|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2009-03-23}}</ref>
A center hall extends from the front to the garden doors. Narrow lateral halls run out to the wings, and with the center hall, subdivide the first floor into four rooms. The center hall is bisected by a wide arch, with the main stairway to the rear on the east side. The plan of the first floor is repeated on the second, with four bedrooms.<ref name="nrhpinv1"/>
==Visiting==
The John M. and Sara R. Walton Foundation own and operate the property as a historic house museum.  Guided tours of the historic house are offered from March through December. The facilities are available for rental.
== Gallery ==
{{Commons category|Poplar Hill}}
<gallery>
Image:Poplar Hill, 7606 Woodyard Road (His Lordship's Kindness Road) (Rosaryville vicinity), Clinton (Prince George's County, Maryland).jpg|His Lordship's Kindness, HABS Photo
Image:His Lordships Kindness South Dec 08.JPG|His Lordship's Kindness - South Front, December 2008
Image:His Lordships Kindness Entry Detail Dec 08.JPG|His Lordship's Kindness - Entry Detail, December 2008
Image:His Lordships Kindness Dairy Dec 08.JPG|His Lordship's Kindness - Dairy, December 2008
Image:His Lordships Kindness Slave Hospital Dec 08.JPG|His Lordship's Kindness - Slave Hospital, December 2008
Image:His Lordships Kindness Smokehouse Dec 08.JPG|His Lordship's Kindness - Smokehouse, December 2008
Image:His Lordships Kindness Plaque Dec 08.JPG|His Lordship's Kindness - Historic Marker, December 2008
</gallery>
==See also==
*[[List of National Historic Landmarks in Maryland]]
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Prince George's County, Maryland]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.poplarhillonhlk.com}}
*{{MHT url|id=40|title=His Lordship's Kindness, Prince George's County}}, including photo in 1974, at Maryland Historical Trust
*[[Historic American Buildings Survey]] documentation, filed under 7606 Woodyard Road (His Lordship's Kindness Road) (Rosaryville vicinity), Clinton, Prince George's County, MD:
**{{HABS |survey=MD-315 |id=md0568 |title=Poplar Hill |dwgs=3 |photos=48 |data=19 |cap=3 |link=no}}
**{{HABS |survey=MD-315-A |id=md1408 |title=Poplar Hill, Privy |photos=8 |cap=1 |link=no}}
**{{HABS |survey=MD-315-B |id=md1409 |title=Poplar Hill, Smokehouse |photos=2 |cap=1 |link=no}}
**{{HABS |survey=MD-315-C |id=md1410 |title=Poplar Hill, Wash House |photos=1 |cap=1 |link=no}}
**{{HABS |survey=MD-315-D |id=md1411 |title=Poplar Hill, Slave Hospital |photos=2 |cap=1 |link=no}}
**{{HABS |survey=MD-315-E |id=md1412 |title=Poplar Hill, Pigeon Cote |photos=6 |cap=1 |link=no}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Historic American Buildings Survey in Maryland]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Maryland]]
[[Category:Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1786]]
[[Category:African-American history of Prince George's County, Maryland]]
[[Category:History of slavery in Maryland]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Maryland]]
[[Category:Museums in Prince George's County, Maryland]]
[[Category:Houses in Prince George's County, Maryland]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Prince George's County, Maryland]]