Riversdale Mansion - Maryland
Riversdale was the plantation of the Belgian émigré Rosalie Stier Calvert (1778–1821) and her husband, George Calvert (1768–1838), a planter and direct descendent of the Proprietary Governors of Maryland. As a result, Riversdale is a unique blend of American Federal design and Flemish influence desired by its builder Henri Joseph Stier at the beginning of the 1800s.
Riversdale is a five-part, large-scale stuccoed covered Federal brick architecture and exceptional neoclassic interior, built between 1801 and 1807 by Belgian émigré Henri Joseph Stier, Baron de Stier. Part of its character is the blending of Flemish and American architecture - Joseph Stier's daughter and husband completed Riverside. The architecture includes a doric portico on each side of the house. A hipped roof with a "kick" at the eaves covers the main block. Its cornice has large mutule-like modillions. Of the two smaller chimneys, the east chimney is purely decorative. On the east and west sides of the main block are deep narrow chimney stacks which service the hyphen fireplaces and those of the main block. The location of Riversdale was chosen for its easy proximity to the emerging city of Washington, DC. Stier felt this would be a strategic location for an emerging nation's social and political connections but still able to support itself as a working plantation. This location would turn out to be very insightful. Through family letters, the Stier's would provide a fascinating and unique look into the transitions of the first years of the emerging Federal City. Riversdale Mansion is located at 4811 Riverdale Road in Riverdale Park, Maryland, and is open to the public as a museum. As a community developed separate from the estate, the "s" in Riversdale dropped.
Riverdale was built between 1801 and 1807 by Belgian émigré Henri Joseph Stier, Baron de Stier. Once the terrorist of the French Reign of Terror spread into Brussels, Stier brought his family to Philadelphia and then to Maryland, where the family started their American assimilation.
Stier wanted to have Riversdale built in a year to accommodate his growing family. In addition, he wanted Benjamine Latrobe, who was a rising architectural star at the time. Unfortunately, Latrobe could not respond as fast as Stier wanted, and the project went to professional architect and general builder William Lovering.
Baron de Stier brought his family first in 1794 to Philadelphia to escape the French Revolution which had spread to Belgium. Steir started preparations months ahead and worked out a plan of a portable wealth to prepare for a new future. Part of this process included a remarkable art collection. Being related to the painter Ruben's, the Steir collection was unique in its size and quality. After an intense introduction to the politics and culture of Philadelphia, Steir moved his family to the Marland countryside to conserve family finances. With Annapolis blooming into a center of commerce and culture, the family became part of this important emerging city. The Steirs lived in the William Paca House in Annapolis, Maryland, immediately before building Riversdale. Stier planned the house in 1801 to resemble his Belgian residence, the Chateau du Mick. However, only the central portion was built by Stier, with the hyphens and wings added c. 1830 by his son-in-law, George Calvert. Stier returned to Belgium in 1805 - Napoleon took power and promised to return confiscated property by the French. There had been a distressful ebb and tide of good and bad news coming from Europe as the forces of the French Revolution shifted and the violence grew. Napolian actively catered to the dispersed nobility to build his own version of a New French Empire. However, learning from the past, Napoleon would keep the option of reversing gears an open secret.
Riversdale was planned in 1801 by Baron de Stier to resemble his Belgian home, Chateau du Mick. Stier had built the Chateau du Mick in the 1780s in Brasschaat, not far from Antwerp. Its structure inspired the architecture of Riversdale, especially the East-West orientation of entertaining rooms, a style more popular in Europe than in America.
"Some of the Finest Paintings Ever in America" - Stier Collection / Riversdale. Jan Brueghel the Elder, 1613.
Tucker Porcelain Company of Philadelphia opened in 1826. It was one of the first successful porcelain companies in America.
Romulus and Remus suckled by the Wolf, c. 1620-1625. North Carolina Museum - Formally Riversdale / Stier Collection
Purchased in 1839 by C.B. Calvert -The original receipt translates to approximately $15,000 in today's prices for the extensive set.
Though men in the early Republic usually owned estates, Riversdale is one of the few that passed from father to daughter. Rosalie received the house and land from her father, Henri Joseph Stier, as part of her inheritance.
Riversdale Salon architectural details for the three floor-length arched windows with flanking pilasters.
Riversdale Salon architectural details showcase the elaborate Federal interiors.
The unfinished Riversdale was left to be completed by his daughter, Rosalie Stier Calvert, and her husband, George Calvert, grandson of Charles Calvert - 5th Baron Baltimore. The province of Maryland began as a proprietary colony of the English Lord Baltimore to create a haven for English Catholics in the New World (1632 - about twelve million acres. In a Penn–Calvert boundary dispute of territory overlapping Maryland and Pennsylvania, Maryland lost significant land). Maryland was an early pioneer of religious toleration in the English colonies. In 1776 the family lost Maryland (Henry Harford (1758–1834), the last Proprietor of Maryland) after the American Revolution. Rosalie Stier Calvert was in a unique position for women at the time. She played a significant role in developing Riversdale and handling her father's business interests in America. The Calverts were related, through the marriage of George Calvert's sister Eleanor Calvert, to George and Martha Washington. By marriage, Rosalie Calvert and George Calvert were aunt and uncle to Martha and George Washington's four Custis grandchildren. At the same time, Riversdale was built, nephew George Washington Parke Custis and his wife, now Eleanor Calvert Custis Stuart, was building Arlington House.
Stier, returning to Belgium, left the bulk of his art collection at Riversdale for safekeeping for sixteen years. This unique collection consisted of over sixty Flemish master paintings by, i.a. Rubens, Van Dyck, Bruegel, Titian, and Rembrandt.
Just before Rosalie and George Calvert sent the Stier art collection back to Belgium in 1816, they staged what may have been the first significant exhibit of European art in America - at Riverdale.
Henri Joseph Stier faced a dilemma in 1800 when building Riversdale. His vision was to have it up in a year for his growing family. Benjamin Latrobe, the first professional architect, working in the country, was his architect of choice. However, Latrobe was starting his collaboration of neoclassical design with Thomas Jefferson and the construction of the U.S. Capital and may have been preoccupied. Regardless, Stier was frustrated with Latrobe's pace on his project and moved on. Steir used elements from his Belgian residence, the Chateau du Mick, which is morphed with late Georgian American architecture with interiors in a neoclassic Federal style. Some attribute the interiors to William Thornton, but more likely, it was the professional architect and general builder William Lovering, who collaborated with Thornton on the Octagon House as superintending architect, and the U.S. Capitol. Steir signed a contract with Lovering on March 24, 1801. Interestingly, after Stier left in 1805 to return to Belgium, his daughter Rosalie Stier Calvert would be in correspondence with Latrobe, which she shared in letters with her father.
The east parlor served as the dining room. The west parlor, with the salon in between, was the principle receiving parlor for guests. A portrait of Henri Joseph, Baron de Stier, is on the wall.
On the north side is a central entry hall, with a stair hall on the right and a service hall on the left. All spaces have elaborate original woodwork.
The dedication to the symmetrical exterior meant that inside, windows awkwardly spanned two stories in the library with its historical scenic wallcovering - A section of the original is on the opposite wall.
The most traumatic experience for Riverdale, Rosalie, and George Calvert was the British assault in 1814 at the Battle of Bladensburg that would open the way to attaching and burning Washington, DC. Unfortunately, the American military was not prepared, and the outcome of the battle was disastrous - with many deaths on both sides. The people at Riversdale played a big part in burying the dead. The experiences of Rosalie Steir Calvert during the War of 1812 and her life at the plantation are captured in great detail in the book Mistress of Riversdale: The Plantation Letters of Rosalie Stier Calvert 1795-1821. She was one of America's wealthiest women and maintained the most extensive collection of European art in America. With the desire of Henri Joseph Stier that the Steir property stays in the family and due to American marital laws at the time, Riversdale remained Rosalie's property by a prenuptial agreement with George Calvert.
Rosalie Stier Calvert died at age forty-two in 1821, and George Calvert never remarried and lived the remainder of his days at Riverdale until he died in 1838. The Calverts' younger son, Charles Benedict (1808-1864), took on the ownership and management of Riversdale and the farmland acreage because his older brother, George Henry (1803-1889), had other interests. Charles Benedict (or C.B.) was very interested in agricultural reform practices and founded the Maryland Agricultural College in 1856, the first agricultural research college in America (now known as the University of Maryland).
Riversdale, at its completed stage, as developed between Rosalie and George Calvert in 1827. George Calvert would continue their vision for Riversdale after her 1821 death.
Baron de Stier brought his family to Strawberry Hill, a farm in Creagerstown, Maryland, and then to the former William Paca House in Annapolis. In Annapolis, Rosalie met her future husband, George Calvert. From here, Stier went on to start Riversdale, next to the town of Bladensburg, Md., which would be the scene of a significant battle in 1814 between England and still-newly formed United States of America.
1795 to 1821: “Mistress of Riversdale, The Plantation Letters of Rosalie Stier Calvert” was published by the Johns Hopkins University Press in 1991, located at 4811 Riverdale Road in Riverdale Park, Maryland. Riversdale was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.
Bladensburg Battle 1814 - a serious defeat for the previously successful American forces - The battle would open the way for the British to enter Washington, DC.
