If, to borrow a phrase, the past is a foreign country, this moment—when real journeys are curtailed—is a good occasion to time-travel to historic houses. The U.S. has a roster going far beyond familiar names like the Biltmore Estate, Hearst Castle and Winterthur. Many are easily explored online, yielding fascinating micro-histories and peeks at varied aesthetic taste. Located on the banks of the Patuxent River in Hollywood, Md., Sotterley epitomizes an 18th-century tobacco plantation. Its clapboard manor house, which grew...

Source: Wall Street Journal August 29, 2020 10:52 UTC