Cloverdale

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Charles Allnutt was born in 1869 to Benoni and Emily Allnutt. Less than a year later, Benoni completed work on his Seneca sandstone masterpiece – Rocklands. Growing up at Rocklands, Charles attended the Seneca Schoolhouse alongside his brothers and sisters. As he grew older, he began farming a tract of land across River Road and behind the schoolhouse. When his father passed away in 1899, Charles was officially given the land, which he called Cloverdale. It was here, in 1900, that he completed his farmhouse – known both as Cloverdale and the Seneca Quarry Farm (given its close proximity to the Seneca sandstone quarry) – and moved in with his wife, Effie.

The home, built in the colonial revival style (popular in the area at the time), was not quiet for long. In 1904, Charles and Effie welcomed two babies, born 10 months apart. Charles continued to farm the land around his home until 1929, when he passed away at the age of 59. Effie continued to live in the home with her children – Charles Jr. and Julia – until she passed away in the 1950s. Charles Jr. was a successful farmer while Julia was a longtime teacher at the Seneca School House.

The home was sold out of the Allnutt Family in the 1960s and eventually purchased by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. After sitting empty for many years in the late 1970s and suffering from vandalism, the home was torn down in the 1980s. Where the home once stood, nature has taken back over. There is a hardly a trace of a home ever having been there at this point.