Corotoman Easements

One of our lesser known, and actually newest, property is Corotoman in Lancaster County. Now down to 6.3 acres, it was once the home seat of Robert 'King' Carter and the site of the mansion he built in the 1720s. Carter at his height owned more than 300,000 acres in the colony. The mansion burned in 1729, barely four years after its completion. The archaeological remains of the house and many outbuildings are still on the site. We purchased the property in 2000 to keep it from being further developed. The previous owners had given easements to the Commonwealth, but reserved the right for two subdivisions and residences to allow for their children to build there in the future. They choose not to, but the right remained and when the property was offered for sale, it was feared that another owner could build there if he so chose. We stepped in to by the site and have held it pretty much as it was for the last eight years. Ther is a1940's rental rsidence on the property that is leased.

We are now working with DHR to strenghten the existing easements by removing all right to subdivide. This process is similar to placing new easements and will take a bit of paperwork, but once done should provide complete protection for the site so that future researchers, when the time and circumstances are right, can continue the archaeological investigation of the site.

We are currently working with appraisers to determine the value implications of this measure and to see if there is the possibility of receiving and then syndicating tax credits that might result from our actions. As with many other intiiatives you have read about below, stay tuned - there's more to come!