The Drive along the Creek
A stately approach to the family’s manorial home
MAP 4
When the Johnston family was in residence, guests arrived by car at the “Big House” after a drive from Santee Mill Road.
The drive, carefully engineered and once well-paved, ran between Monocacy Creek and the millrace (an artificial creek) constructed in the 1800s to drive the Santee family’s grist mill. The road brought visitors from the creek up to the steps adjacent to the sun porch.
From the concrete steps, observe the bushes halfway between the front door of the house and the foot of the drive. The bushes were, when the grounds were carefully maintained, a topiary sculpture with a fountain in the center. A flagstone walkway from the house is still visible.
The 1929 map in the inside front cover shows the length of the walkway - from the front door of the “Big House”, down the hill, through the cedar grove, ending at the family’s swimming pools.