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The Group Travel Leader Going on Faith Select Traveler

Historic Maryland Venues

Historic Oakland

Columbia

A Maryland legislator built Oakland manor in 1811 as a country home to supplement his town home in Baltimore. The original house, which was built in the Federal style, is today a mix of Federal, Greek Revival and Colonial Revival architecture.

“It’s the historic nature that draws [events], and I think it’s also the quaintness of the space, and it’s private,” said Lori Tracy, event and facility manager.

The manor house sits on a couple of acres in a residential area, and a long driveway leads to its front entrance, but “we’re right in downtown,” she said. The building serves as both an event venue and a community center for the Columbia area villages.

The sprawling house has a range of rooms for events with five to 80 people, or the entire house can be used for events with up to 170 people, although the group would be broken up in different spaces, Tracy said. Meetings can also use one room for its main event and other rooms for breakout spaces.

The Main Ballroom can seat 80 for meals and has four glass doors that lead to an enclosed veranda. The Magnolia Room can seat about 60 at rounds, and the Town Center Room can accommodate events for up to 50 guests. Groups also have access to a 40-person conference room, a 12-person boardroom and a library. From March to November, groups with up to 175 guests can also use the back-patio event tent.

www.historic-oakland.com

Inn at Perry Cabin by Belmond

St. Michaels

The Inn at Perry Cabin was built in 1816 on the banks of Miles River, and the original Colonial Revival-style building is now the north wing of the manor, which has been expanded over the past two centuries.

To mark its bicentennial, the Belmond property just wrapped up a refresh that updated all 78 guest rooms and public spaces, including conference and event facilities, while maintaining its historic charm.

The 1,500-square-foot Commodore Ballroom, with exposed-beam cathedral ceilings and a stone hearth fireplace, can accommodate 100 guests. With wood paneling and water views, the Admiral Room welcomes meetings for up to 40 people, and the Niagara and Lawrence rooms can be used separately or combined for up to 40 attendees.

The inn’s 200-year-old manicured gardens are another favorite for guests, who can also explore the greenhouse as well as a new cutting garden behind it. Groups can play bocce ball and croquet, arrange for a yoga class by the water’s edge and will soon be able to play a set on the resort’s new tennis courts.

Instead of driving across the bay on the bridge, guests can now sail into St. Michaels on the inn’s new luxury 55-foot Hinckley yacht, named Five Star. The hotel’s sailing academy also offers private and chartered cruises and sailing classes. Groups can also go fishing, dredge for oysters and learn how to build a boat next door at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.

www.belmond.com