Around 1855, these slave and workers' quarters formed part of a farm deliberately designed according to the European ferme ornee, or ornamental farm, concept to resemble a picturesque village, with stone facades and decorative woodwork providing the Ridgely family a more pleasing view from the mansion. The living quarters stood at the center of the farm near the places of work, where enslaved families, often large, likely lived in crowded conditions with few personal possessions, and children likely slept on straw mattresses on the floor. After Emancipation, the buildings housed tenant farmers, some of whom had been enslaved on the estate or were descended from those who had been, and ashes used for making soap were collected in the small stone house to the left. In 1897, the quarters still stood as the residence of tenant farmers.