Perry Hall Mansion

Although currently closed to the public and in need of restoration, Perry Hall Mansion remains one of the most historically significant buildings in the county. Not only was it a major focal point for the local community, it hosted a meeting in 1784 that led to the founding of the American Methodist church. It was originally built in 1775 and was much larger than it is now (a fire destroyed a portion of it in 1839). It was once the centerpiece of a large estate owned by a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, Corbin Lee, who started to build the mansion in 1773. After he died unexpectedly, the property was sold to a merchant named Harry Dorsey Gough, who completed the house. As of 2022, the county owns the house and is seeking to sell it to private owners. It cannot be demolished since it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The property was first owned by a man named George Lingan in 1684. At the time, the county was called Calvert County. Corbin Lee, who owned and operated an iron processing forge, acquired it in the mid-1700s. It seems Lee never lived in the unfinished house and instead lived at the forge. He did not have children nor a will but was married (interestingly, Lee was an ancestor of future Confederate General Robert E. Lee). His widow sold the property to the next owner who quickly sold it to Harry Gough, who bought it using funds he recently inherited. He chose the name Perry Hall for the house after a family castle close to Birmingham, England. Enslaved laborers worked on the property raising cattle, crops, and tobacco (a wall in the basement used to have chains that people remember seeing).

Gough's prestige grew so much that the nearby Belair Road was known as Perry Hall Road or Harry Dorsey Gough's Road. He later became a member of the Maryland House of Delegates and served on the board of one of the first orphanages in Maryland. He also earned a good reputation as a farmer for experimenting with new techniques.

The year 1775 was also a turning point in Gough's life. During a Methodist service in Baltimore he and some friends attended, Gough became a fervent believer in the Methodist movement, which had been spreading in the colonies in the 1770s (his wife, Prudence, was already a Methodist), and put his boisterous party life behind him. He built a chapel near the house and hosted services that were attended not only by the family but enslaved workers, servants, and nearby families.

In 1784, a group of Methodists that included Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury (both would become the first two Methodist bishops), decided to hold a conference in Baltimore to discuss establishing the Methodist Church. They met at Perry Hall to organize the conference, which was held at a church called Lovely Lane Chapel on Christmas Day, 1784. The Methodist church grew and evolved from that point forward, including splitting into different denominations.

Gough died in 1808 but the family owned the estate for several decades. A group of investors bought it in 1852 and sold many plots to German immigrants. A series of owners lived in the house until 2001 when the county bought it. By then there were just four acres left of the original estate. The county partially restored the house in 2004 and an organization called The Friends of Perry Hall, which formed in 2007 and appears to have dissolved, did additional renovation work. The county intended to open the house as a museum and community center but that never happened.

Coffin, Nelson. "Perry Hall Mansion shuttered while updates considered." The Baltimore Sun. March 1, 2016. https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/ph-br-perry-hall-mansion-0225-20160301-story.html.

Goodnight, Cameron. "‘Culturally significant’ Perry Hall Mansion in need of property ownership, says Baltimore County councilman." The Baltimore Sun. June 25, 2021. https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/baltimore-county/cng-co-perry-hall-mansion-in-need-property-ownership-20210622-74ho6rdlqvhnlclrgdwtbyjth4-story.html.

"History of the Perry Hall Mansion." Friends of the Perry Hall Mansion. Retrieved from the Web Archive on August 16, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20110727173644/http://www.perryhallmansion.org/pages/themansion.html.

Lee, John. "Perry Hall Mansion is Rich in History but its Future Remains Uncertain." WYPR. March 5, 2019. https://www.wypr.org/wypr-news/2019-03-05/perry-hall-mansion-is-rich-in-history-but-its-future-remains-uncertain.

McGrain, John W. & Lantz, Louise K. "Perry Hall." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. April 23, 1980. https://mht.maryland.gov/secure/medusa/PDF/NR_PDFs/NR-622.pdf.

Montcalmo, Chris. "Baltimore County to solicit proposals for historic Perry Hall Mansion, a protected landmark." NottinghamMD. May 19, 2021. https://www.nottinghammd.com/2021/05/19/baltimore-county-to-solicit-proposals-for-historic-perry-hall-mansion-a-protected-landmark.

"Perry Hall Mansion." Baltimore Heritage. Accessed August 16, 2022. https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/173.