Ownership History
The house is significant for its early owners, some of the most prominent men in all phases of the life of colonial Maryland; the Digges, Carroll, and Lee families. The home was originally believed to have been built by Ignatius Digges (1707–1785) c. 1750, and subsequently raised to its present two stories by his widow, Mary Carroll Digges, in about 1800. Recent dendrochronology performed on the roof rafters of Melwood Park suggest an earlier construction date. The confirmed felling date of the timbers used in construction of the roof date to the winter of 1713 and spring of 1714. At the time Melwood Park was owned by Henry Darnell Jr. (1682–1737) who owned an adjacent 7,000-acre (28 km2) plantation known as His Lordship's Kindness. His father, Henry Darnall (1645–1711), had earlier built nearby "The Woodyard."
The original Melwood Park land patent was for 1,050 acres (4.2 km2) of which half were eventually inherited by the Digges family. William Digges, who inherited half of the property purchased the half where the manor house was located in 1729. Ignatius Digges, son of William, inherited Melwood from his father in 1740. Ignatius Digges left the plantation to his wife, Mary Carroll Digges, who went on to live at Melwood Park for the next 40 years after his death in 1785. Ignatius Digges grandson Ignatius Digges Lee, son of his daughter Mary (1745–1805) who was wife of Maryland Governor Thomas Sim Lee (1745–1819), was scheduled to inherit Melwood Park, but predeceased his grandmother. Lee and his wife were buried at Melwood Park until moved to a nearby Catholic cemetery in 1888. Melwood Park was sold to William Pumphrey in about 1825, following the death of Mary.
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