Authored by Sarah Doerrer, Virtual Services Specialist at AACPL
On a cold, rainy day in early April, I had the pleasure of connecting with Dana Connett, one of the docents and education/communications liaisons at the Hammond-Harwood House, in the heart of downtown Annapolis.
Dana had graciously agreed to give me and a group of fellow AACPL staff a private tour of the house so that we could personally experience an exciting new offering we recently announced for our library customers:
Up to four free passes at a time to tour the Hammond-Harwood House!
The passes are a steal: library customers can check them out for up to one week, and the savings are significant. Ordinarily, one-hour tours at Hammond-Harwood are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors or AAA members, and $7 for children ages 7+ (younger children are free).
If two adults and two older children chose to use library passes instead, they would be saving nearly $40 overall – what a bargain!
The museum is open April through December every day except Tuesdays, between noon and 5 PM, with tours on the hour between noon and 4 PM. Although walk-ins are welcomed, Dana recommends booking in advance when you can, especially on weekends.
Still, you may be wondering: why visit the Hammond-Harwood House and what makes it special?
Fascinating Historical Stories
The house has been designated a national historic landmark and has been functioning as a privately operated museum since 1940, with a strong emphasis on a truly fantastic decorative arts collection, including silver, porcelain, china, and more. In fact, this subset of the house’s collection has been called the finest of its kind in the state of Maryland!
But the draw of Hammond-Harwood is so much more than decorative arts. As Dana pointed out, “the collection is so rich here. First of all, you have the architecture history [and] we have tons of art, if that's your thing. Plus American furniture - we have 24 pieces of John Shaw furniture in our collection. So, we've got something for everybody!”
Although the house itself was built in colonial times in 1774, the family that resided in the house the longest is the focus of the museum’s narrative. At Hammond-Harwood, you will hear the intriguing story of the Loockermans, two generations (including 10 children!) that occupied the house as a private residence between 1811 and 1924.
A third of the items you will see actually belonged to inhabitants of the house, and everything else is carefully curated to be accurate to the early 19th Century, not unlike the period in which Bridgerton is set, according to Dana.
Tour guides present vivid details describing what their daily lives would have been like, as well as the important role of the enslaved people who were held there before Emancipation, which Dana says is woven throughout the tale of Hammond-Harwood as an essential part of its story. In fact, one exhibit, on permanent display, offers more details about the role of slavery at the house.
The other exhibit, open through 2023, is focused on Charles Willson Peale, considered one of the key painters of the American Revolution (alongside painting numerous portraits on display at the house). Nationally celebrated, this illustrious artist got his start in Annapolis – in fact, the Hammond-Harwood House exhibit is the first ever to focus specifically on his commissions in Maryland’s capital city.
Between the rich details of the house itself and the exhibits, our AACPL group came to appreciate Dana’s comment that “it really is a rich history, and you can track it literally with the spaces you walk every day.”
She explained to us that particularly in the 10 years before the American Revolution, “it was the golden age of Annapolis – all over the country, you've got landed gentry building fancy townhomes, and then you have all these artisans living and working together. Fashionable society was here, the seat of government, busy ports – and this house was reflective of all that!”
Family Friendly Design
I discovered in talking to Dana that customers can request that tour guides focus on particular topics of interest. However, one of the most popular tailored tours Hammond-Harwood enjoys offering for kids is called Then and Now, in which they go from room to room, asking children to observe what they see that strikes them as similar to modern times (e.g. sleeping in a bed) versus what seems different (e.g. using a chamber pot). Dana commented that “it gets them laughing [and] it really is fun to compare and contrast, to hear their ideas!”
In addition to the 30- and 60-minute tours, kids (and teens!) are invited upon arrival to pick up one of the i-Spys, a kind of scavenger hunt that allows them to cross off items they see as they make their way through the house and earn a prize.
What if you prefer something more laidback than a tour for your museum experience? Hammond-Harwood House has you covered! Visitors are welcome to enjoy the lovely gardens plus both exhibits in the wings of the house for free, with or without passes. Read a book, let your kiddos run around exploring – anything that suits your fancy.
Speaking of play, whether you come for a tour or just to see the grounds, the museum also makes kids’ activity totes available free of charge, with several engaging activities that deal with different parts of the house’s history. Dana highly recommends these ‘haversacks’ as “something that families can enjoy together”.
Alternately, if you’d like to visit the museum with children for a special event, there are numerous options in the coming months, such as Architect's Apprentice and a Mother's Day program.
Other Special Events and Offers
Dana was excited to share that Hammond-Harwood is expanding its programming and offerings every year, not just for children but for all its visitors.
The house has organized partnerships with Maryland Hall, Chase-Lloyd House, Watermark Tours, Reynolds Tavern (at which the house encourages customers to book tea, then a tour), and of course, the library – among others.
Some of the notable upcoming events are the monthly Jane Austen themed tour, which alternates between Wednesdays and Saturdays, as well as the Stretch and Sketch event in the gardens, which is free of charge!
For those library customers hosting guests in June during Plebe Weekend at the Naval Academy, parents and immediate family of Midshipmen are admitted to the museum free of charge – an added bonus if you already have library passes.
We at AACPL enthusiastically recommend taking a staycation day and using our free passes seeing all the Hammond-Harwood House has to offer. Dana concurs, suggesting that “even if you have been here a long time ago, come rediscover it! Every time you come for a tour, you're going to see something different. I just think history is not stagnant -- we're always learning, changing, and developing. And this house is really reflective of that.”
After my own deep dive into this local gem, I couldn’t agree more. Hope to see you there!