Most historic mansions in Maryland were built by shipping families or tobacco money. Tacaro Estate was built by brick. In 1940, industrialist E. Taylor Chewning finished a Georgian Colonial house on 74 acres in Tracys Landing, and the result is one of the most distinctive properties on this stretch of the Chesapeake Bay.
The clay baron who built it
Chewning was born in Bowling Green, Virginia, in 1889 and founded United Clay Products in 1921. His company supplied brick for landmarks across Washington, D.C., including the Folger Shakespeare Library, the IRS building, and the Mayflower Hotel. When he built his own home, he used the same material with obvious pride. The 13,280 square foot mansion is laid in Flemish bond brickwork, fronted by tall white square pillars, and finished in an English style that still reads as unmistakably grand from the drive.
He named the estate for his marriage. Take the first two letters of Taylor and the first four of Caroline, his wife of 32 years, and you get Tacaro. The couple raised a son and a daughter here. Chewning served on Maryland’s Racing Commission from 1953 until his death in 1970, and Caroline remained until her own passing in 1977.
Presidential guests on the Chesapeake
Tacaro sits due east of Washington and roughly 30 minutes from Annapolis, close enough that the capital’s power brokers could reach it for a weekend and far enough that they were left alone once they arrived. Estate history holds that Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson all spent time on these grounds during those decades, joining the political and social figures who came out from the city for the water, the gardens, and the privacy. Few Maryland event venues can point to that kind of guest list.
The estate today
Little of the original character has been lost. Twelve stone and marble fireplaces remain, along with the library, dining room, and grand salon, the French and Italian gardens, the English brick stables, and a vintage Speakeasy bar. What has changed is who gets to use it. The mansion now operates as a Chesapeake Bay bed and breakfast and a historic mansion wedding venue in the DMV, hosting garden ceremonies, full mansion weekends, and overnight guests year round.
That dual life suits the house. Chewning designed it for entertaining, with formal public rooms that open into one another and grounds that absorb a crowd without feeling crowded. A wedding for 200 on the lawn or a couple checking in for two nights in October both use the estate the way it was meant to be used. The bones of a 1940 country house turn out to be well suited to a Maryland event venue in 2026.
If you want to experience the house rather than read about it, our eight rooms and suites each carry a piece of the story, from Taylor’s Suite on the first floor to the Rose Suite upstairs. Eighty-six years of history, and the front door is still open!