Blendon Estate, Owings Mills Maryland

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The Blendon Estate is the northernmost portion of the Caves Estate operated by the Carroll family during the 18^th and 19^th century. The land was first acquired by Dr. Charles Carroll in the 1730's and 1750's. By the time that the original wing of the tenant house and the hank barn on the Blendon section of the estate were constructed in the 19^th century, the Caves property had grown to 2,500 acres. Under the ownership of John Henry Carroll (1803-56) and his son John Nicholas Carroll (1847-1926), the "Caves" was a grain and livestock farm, consisting of multiple fields extending on both sides of what is now Park Heights Avenue and Caves Road. On sloping land such as is found surrounding the site of the tenant house and nearby bank barn, livestock production seems to have been paramount. The tenants of the Carrolls resided in the dwelling and raised the livestock and hay needed for feed in their portion of the estate. Hay was stored in the main level of the barn, and the livestock were kept in pens in the lower level. The Caves mansion house and main cluster of outbuildings stood over a mile to the southwest, across what is now Park Heights Avenue.

In 1897, the son of John Henry Carroll, John Nicholas Carroll (1847-1926) defaulted on a mortgage he had taken on the Caves estate, and the tract was sold at auction. The portion containing the tenant house and barn passed in 1925 to Janon Fisher, a retired engineer who resided in the Caves mansion to the south of the parcel containing the barn. In 1935, Fisher and his wife sold the 110 acres surrounding the barn and tenant house immediately to the south to Richard E. Breed, 3^rd, President of the General Perm Refining Co. of Baltimore. It was probably Breed who erected the Breed-Krongard House, the large, Neo-Georgian residence that now stands on the top of the hill above the barn. Breed, who lived on the property until selling it in 1946, apparently also remodeled the lower level of the barn to serve as a garage and horse stable. Since 1946 the estate has been known as "Blendon," a name that Breed may have given it. Three other families owned Blendon and resided there during the period since World War II.