Pleasant Plains Farm

Annapolis, MD

Pleasant Plains Farm (circa 1920) -- owned at the time by the Kaiser Family.

The Pleasant Plains area was originally part of Providence, the first European settlement in Anne Arundel County, which was founded in  December 1649. Situated on the south side of Ridout Creek, Pleasant Plains Farm once encompassed more than 700 acres, and was originally settled and farmed in the mid-17th century. The main house at Pleasant Plains Farm is thought to have been built by John Ridout about 1830. John Ridout, son of Horatio Ridout, was the grandson of John Ridout—who was secretary to Governor Sharp—and nephew of Orlando Ridout (I).  

The farm was purchased by the Weems family in the 1940s. On the untimely death of Lt. Cdr. George T. Weems in a plane crash, his father Capt. P.V.H. Weems transferred the south portion of the farm in trust for his grandson Philip V.W. Dodds in 1951, and the north portion to his granddaughter Thackray Dodds Seznec.  

Capt. P.V.H. Weems manged the farm in the 40's and early 50's.

Philip’s father, Capt. Charles Dodds, retired from the Navy in 1957 and moved the family to the farm. For the next 25 years, Pleasant Plains was a full working farm with—among other things—hogs, cattle, corn, oats, hay, and horse boarding. When the two large barns on the property burned, the fields were leased to a turf operation and Capt. Dodds retired.

Capt. and Mrs. Dodds continued to live at the farm until Mrs. Dodds died in 1998. During 1999, Philip and Susan Dodds began the restoration of the house and surrounding buildings then moved back to the farm on completion.   

Capt. Dodds and Bob Hunteman, late '60s -- father nearly always wore a tie.

The Dodds Period

Restoration

Philip and Susan mapped out the strategy to fully restore the 170-year-old house during 1999. Having restored the Bordley-Randall House, which was used in 1990 as the Designers Show House for the benefit of the Anne Arundel Medical Center Auxiliary, the Dodds’ thought they knew pretty much what to expect at Pleasant Plains.

The farmhouse, however, proved to be more of a challenge than the Bordley-Randall house. Even though it is much older (1715), the Bordley-Randall House had been upgraded, repaired and improved over the years; the farm house had not. All three floors and the wing needed to be completely replastered, all wiring and plumbing needed to be replaced, a new heating and air conditioning system was needed, and major structural work was required.

Mindful of the Show House deadlines, demolition began in late 1999, and the majority of structural work was completed early in 2000. Working from the top down, the interior walls were refurbished, replastered, and new mechanical services installed. It is expected that the interior work will be completed by mid-year 2000; the Auxiliary has use of the premises starting August 2000.

(Upper Left) Sue Dodds, with cell phone clipped and plans in hand inspects the third floor.

(Right) Philip Dodds works at his old Civil War period plantation desk (which was his desk as a child), now located to the basement for the duration.  He does his day job there while while overseeing the work in progress.  Nearly complete, but not quite, he plans to finish the restoration of the desk after the show house.

Pleasant Plains Farm Restoration