This farm in Rockville, Maryland, known as Belward, had been in the Banks family since the mid-1800s, purchased by Ignatius Beall Ward.
The last family member to reside at the farm, Elizabeth Beall Banks, who was born on her family's other farm in Howard County, moved to the Rockville farm at age 15, when a tornado ruined her father's farm. There she stayed until her passing in 2005 at the age of 91.
Miss Banks, sold the beautiful, historic 138-acre Belward Farm to Johns Hopkins University for $5 million in 1989, a fraction of its real value, with the agreement that they would develop the property with a preservasionist bent.
What that actually meant is being fought in the courts - so for now, we still have beautiful views like this along Muddy Branch Road. For now.
location gaithersburg, maryland
photographer patrick connolly
