In the midst of London Town's decline, William Brown built an imposing Georgian structure which still stands overlooking the South River. Built between 1758 and 1764, it is one of two buildings that survive from colonial London Town. Brown, an aspiring gentleman who operated both a ferry and an inn at London Town, was also a joiner and a cabinetmaker. He probably served as his own "undertaker," or building contractor, as he did for the construction of the Upton Scott House in Annapolis. The two houses, both completed in 1764, bear a striking resemblance to each other.

Brown positioned his house at London Town with a dramatic view of the South River. However, instead of facing north, he oriented it toward Scott Street, the road leading to the ferry landing. Measuring 50 by 40 feet and 49 feet high, it is a large Georgian house constructed of header-bond brick. Header bond was a fashionable and expensive brick bonding technique used predominately in Maryland in the mid-eighteenth century, but rarely found elsewhere. The Brown House is the only known example with all-headerbond on all four elevations. The principle elevation of the house is marked by a projecting pavilion, which includes three of the seven bays on the facade. The exterior walls display a restrained, clean surface ornamented with a cove and quarter-round molded water table and a belt course. The wooden cornice survives in its unfinished state with empty slots for the placement of consoles. A pair of large interior chimneys project from the central deck of a shallow-pitch.

The unique floor plan is composed of four elevated corner rooms separated by a central hall and a transverse passage. A central entrance on each elevation leads to the hall and passage. Except for the enigmatic elevated rooms and the location of the stairs, the plan resembles the main block of Blandfield in Essex County, Virginia, built in 1770. Architectural investigations suggest that the interior remained unfinished during the 20 years William Brown owned the house.

Architectural evidence supporting the use of the house as a tavern is represented by an arched opening in the masonry wall between the entry and the principal first floor room. It may have functioned as part of a bar allowing beverages to be passed into the entertaining room in the rear of the house. The arch was filled and plastered over after Brown's ownership.

William Brown's financial situation declined after the construction of the house. In 1758, a few years after he began operating the South River ferry and ordinary, Brown purchased two lots from Stephen West, Jr. for 150 pounds sterling. He then amassed enough credit to build his grand house. Indebted to James Dick, a Scottish merchant at London Town, for 500 pounds sterling, Brown never recovered from this lavish expenditure and was continually in debt after 1769. In 1782 James Dick died and Brown was unable to pay his debt which by then amounted to 731 pounds sterling. After unsuccessfully trying to sell the house, he released it to the executor's of Dick's estate.

In 1828 the Brown House and 10 acres were acquired by Anne Arundel County for use as an Almshouse. It continued operation as the "poor house" until passage of the Welfare Act in 1965. In the 1970s, it became part of the Anne Arundel County parks system.

Take a tour of the William Brown House