Melissa And Justin | Governor Calvert House

Melissa and Justin’s lovely wedding ceremony and reception were held on a gorgeous day last fall at the Governor Calvert House, one of the Historic Inns of Annapolis. This super sweet couple met while attending West Virginia University and became the best of friends while they were in the marching band there. Justin played trumpet, and Melissa was in the color guard. After building upon their friendship, they realized that they were meant to be more than friends, and the rest is history! The two talked about their undeniable connection in their beautiful and tear jerking wedding vows. Justin proposed to Melissa on Virignia Beach. He left messages for her in bottles along the beach that led her to him, where he then surprised her with his proposal.

They chose the Governor Calvert House as their venue because – according to the bride – “it’s such a unique space and in a prime location.” After photographing several weddings at this interesting location, I decided to do a little research, and the following is a summary of what I found.

The Governor Calvert House is one of three historic buildings that comprise The Historic Inns of Annapolis, which has been a member of Historic Hotels of America since 1996. These three buildings date back to the 1700’s.

The Governor Calvert House is located at 58 State Circle and was originally built as a one-and-a half story structure. Its first occupant was Charles Calvert, governor of Maryland from 1720 – 1727. A fire in 1764 destroyed much of the building, and its remains were incorporated into a two-story Gregorian-style building used by the state. From 1800 through 1854 this property changed hands several times until Abram Claude, then mayor of Annapolis, purchased it. He had the structure enlarged and given Victorian features. This house was privately owned through the 1900s until it was purchased by Paul Pearson.

During the early 1980’s, Pearson introduced his plans to have it restored and expanded into a large historic inn in collaboration with the Historic Annapolis Foundation. The work took place through the mid 1980’s, and the “digs” during the renovation and expansion phases revealed some interesting personal – type items dating back a couple of centuries. But most notable was the uncovering of an architectural feature of the original building – a greenhouse heating system known as the hypocaust. This was discovered in the basement, and it was decided to leave it exposed and in view for even today’s guests to see it by making that portion of the first floor out of glass! This glass floor can be seen in some of the accompanying wedding photos – specifically the one of the groom and his guys gathered inside and the last photo of the bride and groom.

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