“Carrollton Hall”

 

“Carrollton Hall”

This is “photo/art” I created today.  The subject is the “Carrollton Hall” manor house located on the grounds of the Conventual Franciscan Friary of St. Joseph Cupertino and the Shrine of St. Anthony, Howard County, Maryland.

At first, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the final “touches” I made to this image, but as I reflected on it, I changed my mind.

I like the multiple color schemes (enhanced by late afternoon sunlight), and the way the building is somewhat hidden behind the trees in the foreground.  My thought is that the “mystery” the image provokes somehow “pulls one’s eyes into its ambiguity.”

The building pictured was constructed (c. 1832) by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a very wealthy Maryland landowner, patriot, politician, and the sole Catholic signer of the American Declaration of Independence.  

The friary property (of approximately 320 acres), a small part of the original Carroll estate, includes the manor house, a large “monastery-style” friary built nearby in 1930, a provincial house office and friary residence built in 1991, various service buildings, vast woodlands, rustic walking trails, gardens, manicured lawns on rolling hills, cow pastures and farmlands.  

Carrollton Hall, purchased by the Franciscan Friars in 1928 (after passing through the ownership of various proprietors), is today on the National Register of Historical Places.  It now serves as a cultural center, museum, and conference facility.  

I hope you like the photo as much as I now do!

Praise God!