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Friendship House
Friendship House is one of Charles County's oldest houses. Built early to mid 1700's, it has a unique architectural style, which originated in medieval England. Created by carpenters and masons schooled in old world traditions, Friendship has many features of an English yeoman structure. For instance, the roof has a very steep pitch; the house is constructed in a Hall and Parlor manner and is timber framed. While these features are reminiscent of the old English structures, three hundred years ago they were seen on hundreds of small dwellings along the tidewater areas of Maryland and Virginia. Unfortunately today most have vanished - the victims of age and neglect.
In 1968, Friendship House almost disappeared, too: the owner of the house decided to burn it. Rather than see such a special building be destroyed, the Historical Society of Charles County dismantled it, piece by piece, methodically numbering everything so it could be re-erected later. It was stored for seven years before a proper site was located for reconstruction. Finally in the spring of 1976, Friendship House was rebuilt, on the campus of the Charles County Community College.
Saved for posterity, the house is maintained by the Historical Society. This truly unique house represents the combined efforts of many talented and farsighted people who worked hard to save something special from our past. Today it stands to remind all who see it of the life and architecture of Maryland's earliest settlers.
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