Whitehall Manor’s view

A letter by Charlie Scarlett, President – The Brandywine Foundation Inc.

(the BCC does not reject or endorse this view, but feels it is fair to make sure the community understands it)

To our neighbors on Whitehall Road and the Broadneck Peninsula,

We are aware there are justifiable concerns about traffic in the area. As a life-long resident, I have sat in my share of backups on Route 50. I have heard concerns that our plans at Whitehall might add to these problems, and I’d like to set the record straight. Whitehall has been in my family since 1945 when my father purchased and restored the property. Although I now live in Illinois, as President of the Brandywine Foundation, our family foundation which owns and maintains the property since my parents’ deaths, I remain committed.

We host weddings, horse boarding and a small BnB to help pay the bills. We also welcome visitors by appointment and cooperate with local historical organizations such as Historic Annapolis, the Maryland Historic Trust, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Anne Arundel County to do research that discovers and reveals Maryland’s rich history. We want to share Whitehall with the citizens of Maryland, but our small, volunteer board needs help managing the logistics of “public access”.

Several years ago, we approached the National Park Service (experts in public access and historic preservation) for their assistance and have since applied to become a Chesapeake Gateway Site. It recently became apparent that Whitehall would fit nicely into the proposed Chesapeake National Recreation Area. Our goal has always been to preserve Whitehall’s historic significance and unique natural beauty and to share it on a limited scale with the interested public. This is the concept behind Chesapeake Gateway Sites. Working with the National Park Service, we plan to continue our current enterprises, and include limited access to the public for natural experiences, historic tours, water views, limited kayaking, etc. The NPS has casually proposed adding a limited parking area with perhaps 15 spaces to accommodate visitors arriving by car. They are also considering offering ferry tours from the Annapolis City Docks to local sites like Thomas Point Light, Carr’s Beach and Whitehall. Most visitors would arrive and depart by ferry, adding no additional traffic to Whitehall Road. Since Whitehall has no usable swimming beaches, we would not and could not welcome the overflow from Sandy Point.

The planning for Whitehall as a possible Gateways Site is still in its early stages, so we don’t yet have all the details or answers, but we, as the property owners, are committed to preserving Whitehall as a unique and limited-access, historic and natural site. We will work with our neighbors, local authorities and the Broadneck Council of Communities to minimize the impact of traffic in the area. We have always tried to be good neighbors on Whitehall Road, and we intend to continue – and to enable public access that will enhance not detract from the sanctity of our wonderful community. We too have heard the warnings of traffic issues at Monticello, Mt. Vernon and various national parks. Most historic sites have no such traffic challenges. As wonderful as Whitehall is and as much as we love it, it will never attract visitation on the scale of those national sites – and we are very happy about that. We have been good stewards of Whitehall for over 77 years, and we intend to continue. We hear and share your concerns and we truly appreciate your support in our efforts.

For further information on Whitehall, please visit our website at
www.thebrandywinefoundation.org.
Charlie Scarlett, President – The Brandywine Foundation Inc.

(image from Wikipedia – By Acroterion – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19522846)