Homewood House Museum

Description:

• If you have time, visit both Evergreen and Homewood (they're a mile apart) to see how differently the rich lived in different centuries. Homewood was designed and built by the son of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Built in 1801, the five-part classic Palladian home is a dazzling example of Federal architecture. Its interiors boast superb woodcarving and plaster ornamentation. It's painted in a rainbow of soothing colors and decorated in pieces of the time, some from the Carroll family. Highlights are the main hall, the family sitting room with toys and doll furniture, the music room, the long lemon-yellow hall, and the master bedroom with its high cove ceiling and bookcases tucked into the sides of the fireplace. Tours, offered on the half hour, last 45 minutes. Changing exhibits in the main hall focus on the decorative arts or architecture.

• © Frommer's 2013