Concierge Auctions To Present the Historic Rockland Estate in Fairplay, MD at Auction on June 11

FAIRPLAY, Md., May 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Concierge Auctions will host a luxury home auction of the historic Rockland estate at 9030 Sharpsburg Pike in Fairplay, Maryland on June 11, announced Laura Brady, Co-Founder and Vice President of Marketing for Concierge Auctions.  

Originally listed for $2.75 million, the 25-plus acre equestrian estate, with an 8,600-square-foot manse, is selling with a reserve of $1.325 million and a pre-sale estimate of $1.325 million to $1.8 million.  The sale is being conducted in cooperation with Gary Gestson, a certified Historic Property Specialist with Long & Foster Real Estate.

Located in scenic Washington County, the estate is less than a 90-minute drive from both Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, and approximately three hours from Philadelphia.

"The Rockland estate is one of the County's most notable historic properties," Gestson stated.  "The manse's major area of significance is its architecture, particularly its Victorian period alterations."

Built circa 1803 by Colonel Frisby Tilghman, son of Maryland's first attorney general, the three-story, seven bay stone and brick manse is listed on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Sites and is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.  

At one time, Rockland was the largest slave holding estate in Washington County.  James W.C. Pennington, the famed abolitionist and author, escaped from slavery at Rockland in 1827.  Given its important association to Pennington, Rockland has also been designated as an official site of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

The Victorian enhancements to the mansion were likely made in the last part of the 19th century, when the house was purchased by General Thomas T. McKaig.  The most dominant feature is the Federal-style suspended staircase in the south wing, which spirals from the ground floor to the third floor attic.  An oval skylight with curved munitions illuminates the stairs.

Today the 25-plus acres surrounding Rockland include a turnkey horse farm with lush fenced pastures.  Current owners Michael Moreland and Jason Daisey purchased the property in 2004 and have completed many modern infrastructure improvements to the manse, including installing central air conditioning, extensively remodeling the kitchen, and constructing a 3,000-bottle wine cellar in one of the basement rooms.  

Avid equestrians and foxhunters, Moreland and Daisey have also made significant renovations to the property's smaller bank barn as well as installing fencing and establishing paddocks.  They recently embarked on an extensive landscaping plan, installing the formal gardens and walkway surrounding the house and planting over 300 trees and shrubbery.  

"Our April 10 auction of historic Tulip Hill in Harwood, Maryland, proved that truly rare, historically-significant properties are of great interest in today's market," Brady stated.  "The challenge is identifying value, which our process accomplishes in a transparent, open bidding atmosphere.  The upcoming auction of Rockland not only represents the opportunity to purchase a remarkable, storied property, but also the ability for the high bidder to name the price."

The auction of the historic Rockland estate at 9030 Sharpsburg Pike in Fairplay, Maryland will be held on Friday, June 11 at 11am EDT.  Attendance will be limited to registered bidders and their representatives.  The estate is available for preview daily from 11am to 1pm and by appointment.  View Terms and Conditions of Sale for full details. For more information, visit www.RocklandAuction.com or call 866-605-7286.

About James W.C. Pennington (Cited from hallowedground.org): Born Jim Pembroke, James W. C. Pennington escaped from slavery at Rockland, the home of Frisby Tilghman, in 1827. From this modest beginning he eventually won world renown. After staying six months with Quakers William and Phebe Wright in Adams County, Pennsylvania, Pennington settled in New York. Working first as a coachman, he found spiritual guidance from Presbyterian minister Dr. S. H. Cox and experienced a religious awakening in 1829. At the same time he became involved in abolitionist activities and found them compatible with his study of religion. In 1834 he moved to Connecticut where he audited classes in Theology at Yale University and pastored Temple Street Congregational Church, a black congregation. Under his leadership, his church championed abolition and civil rights, and Pennington spoke widely on those issues. In 1841 he wrote and published one of the first histories of Africans in America. The same year he became founding president of the Union Missionary Society and raised money for the kidnapped Africans on the slave ship Amistad to return home. As the Connecticut delegate to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London in 1843, Pennington developed an international reputation as a human rights advocate. Pennington publicly told the story of his early life in The Fugitive Blacksmith, first published in 1849. It sold briskly and remains one of the most acclaimed of all slave narratives. That same year the University of Heidelburg recognized his international achievements by awarding him an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree. He attended world peace and abolition conferences in Great Britain and spoke publicly to raise consciousness and funds for the cause. His involvement in the Underground Railroad included his own escape, his book, and his assistance to freedom seekers including several family members.

About Colonel Frisby Tilghman (cited from hollowedground.org): Frisby Tilghman was the eldest son of James Tilghman of Queen Anne's County, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Like many sons of planters from eastern Maryland, Frisby migrated to the western part of the state in the late eighteenth century, where land was plentiful and comparatively low-priced. Trained as a doctor, he married the wealthy Anna Maria Ringgold and turned his hand to farming instead. He helped found a local agricultural society and an academy and earned a reputation as a progressive farmer. Active in civic life, he served four terms in the Maryland House of Delegates, promoted the C&O Canal project, served on bank boards of directors, and formed and commanded a militia unit (he was known as Colonel Tilghman).

About Concierge Auctions: Concierge Auctions is the preeminent luxury real estate auction firm serving high-end sellers nationwide.  A leading provider of services for individual and institutional owners of luxury residential real estate, Concierge Auctions is revolutionizing the industry by offering an accelerated marketing process that obtains fair market value for high-end properties in a determined time frame.  Building on a centuries-old method for selling the finest art and antiquities, the company combines the latest technologies and marketing programs with experienced personnel to generate the maximum value for the most premier properties in an open, competitive forum.  As a preferred auction provider to Sotheby's International Realty® and other luxury brokerage firms, the company has executed auctions throughout the country, from New York to Hawaii.  The company's database includes more than 30,000 luxury real estate buyers and agents from all 50 states and 38 countries and territories.  The principals of Concierge Auctions have been involved in the transfer of more than $2 billion in luxury real estate sales over the past 10 years.  For more information, call 888-966-4759 or visit www.ConciergeAuctions.com.

SOURCE Concierge Auctions