The Chase-Lloyd House, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, is regarded by historians of American architecture as one of the greatest examples of the Georgian style.
In 1769, Samuel Chase, one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, began construction of the 3-story Colonial brick home. In 1771, Edward Lloyd IV bought the half finished home and contracted William Buckland to complete it.
Buckland designed the interior to include the Venetian ensemble of windows and elaborate carvings in the parlor, dining room and staircase.
In 1847, the Lloyd family sold the house to Hester Ann Chase. Hester willed the home to her three orphaned nieces. One of her nieces, Hester Ann Chase Ridout, set up a charitable trust requiring the Chase-Lloyd House property be used to provide a home for women “who have suffered the vicissitudes of life.”
For more than 130 years, the Chase Home, Inc. has been operating to provide an independent living boarding house for women. The home is maintained by the Chase Home Board of Trustees and staff of support personnel hired by the Board.
Historically, the operation of the home was based primarily on the needs of the ladies who live at the home and secondarily, on sustaining the highly significant architectural and historic character of the National Historic Landmark. Unable to house women at the home, the Chase Home Board of Trustees continue its stewardship of the property. All repairs, maintenance and preservation work follows the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Properties.
