Editor’s Note: In light of the United States government’s actions to prohibit Russians access to their retreat in Queen Anne’s County yesterday, The Spy would like to share a previous story we did on the property in August of 2013.
For more that twenty years, through international crisis and diplomatic tensions, Washington’s Russian Embassy has used their country retreat, known locally as Pioneer Point, a few miles outside of Centreville to quietly host the Sailing Club of The Chesapeake’s annual Labor Day Cruise. And the tradition was started by none other than long serving Russian Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin, apparently a friend of sailors and Pizza Hut.
It’s also one of the few times that the estate, on land once owned by the Tilghman Family, is open to Americans. The Spy tagged along for the last holiday bash this past weekend and was welcomed to take some photographs of this remarkable property.
Billie Carroll says
thanks for sharing the pics. What a beautiful place!
Patsy Hornaday says
Lovely photos in a pristine setting. Also an intriguingly curious site for many Chester River boaters. “From Russia With Love” for the Spy as Sean Connery might say?
Stephan Sonn says
Yes I know the place.
In 1995 I was there living on another part of the old estate before it was broken up.
A llitle history
It may have been owned by the general architect for The empire state Building
When it went Russian there was lots of Spy V Spy and mini Russian subs.
The indoor riding rink/barn had hotel style accommodations.
There is a stucco summer house just on the river
that never could b e lived in for winter…no heat.
Zeb Brodie tended to maintenance and taxes.
His father was a major developer who moved in very high circles
Janice Dickson says
Pioneer Point, now the Russian’s, was owned by Jacob Rascob.
Many years ago we had a bateau which we used for crabbing up and down the Chester, and for enjoyable jaunts. One day we found ourselves at Pioneer Point and, after several drinks, I thought it would be amusing to land on their beach and write something in the sand.. As we approached, we saw several large burly men in suits and shiny shoes carrying long guns appear out of nowhere and begin to patrol the beach. Well, I soberly thought, no need to create a mini-international incident. Best to retreat. It is a lovely place and I am happy to see the pictures, and to know that it is,open at least once a year to the public.
Marge Fallaw says
The name of the former owner was John Jakob Raskob, who among other things was the chief financier/promoter/developer of the Empire State Building, not literally the architect of the building. A staunch Roman Catholic, he was also noteworthy locally for financing the building of the beautiful stone St. Dennis RC Church in Galena, to replace an inadequate, quite dilapidated frame building, I believe (which in turn had replaced the parish’s first church, a badly built brick structure near Lambson’s Station, out in the countryside.
I understand that during the Cold War at least one farm outbuilding/barn on a neighboring farm was used by the US (CIA? FBI?) as an HQ for spying on activities (perhaps largely electronic communications) at what was essentially a dacha for the Soviets, mainly those associated with the embassy and consulate in DC.
Bill Anderson says
It was my understanding that John Jacob Rascob also financed the construction of the stone Catholic Church and Rectory on Chesterfield Avenue in Centreville during the depression years, providing economic opportunity to many in the community.
Stephan Sonn says
Bulle Rock Farm seems now to be the service side of the original estate,
ith the great house, Pioneer Point being the focal point.
The place where the indoor horse rink and barn activities was also hotel-like
for the in people of the shows. In the same facility
were the usual barn accommodations, housing and feeding the horses.
Nearby, was a stucco two story with pool, rather a modest structure where the servant’s quarters
ere on the same floor as the master’s bedroom and kids rooms.
I think later on came the round house set up as a studio.
The barn was a fascinating structure built in a style and grandeur that rivaled the big house but locked to its functionality.
I was not there for a strange event more resent.in the Spy V Spy mode a few weeks before I arrived.
It seems like the present owners of the “service side” imported a mid aged Russian couple to tend to their grand son and do painting and suc, so you had a Russian civil engineer and his lab tech wife painting walls and scrubbing floors.
They eventually had to hike across the campus one dark night,
to seek protection from their Russian comrades,
their American benefactors. ucky an embassy
st happened to be yards away.
Dfar says
Pioneer point was a teenagers dream during the seventies.
We discovered a camera hidden by the russians in an electrical box at the entrance and had many hours of fun with that.
Many wonderful memories!
Jason Price says
I have fond memories of making an assortment of deliveries to the Russian’s “eastern shore embassy”, whether it be pallets of brick or truckloads of pvc piping from my family’s store, Price & Gannon, as a child. The Russians were always very friendly and spent a lot of money to keep the place in great condition. There were multiple individuals that we saw week in and week out at the store as they made various repairs and upgrades to the property. More than once we were invited out to the estate for a farewell party for some figure’s return to Russia. My dad even once told me of an anecdote involving the CIA visiting our store once, asking my grandfather if he would be willing to report back to them on the activities at the estate after delivering hardware.
Mark Dell Acqua says
Beautiful photos! I can remember renting a boat years ago from a place I believe is/was called
“Rolph’s Wharf Landing” and with some general instructions found this Russian “vacation home.”
As I pulled up to the pier I noticed there were no “Do Not Trespass” signs or any kind of warning
to stay away from this property. After sitting in the boat for about 5 minutes and not seeing any form
of human life I quickly walked up the steps leading from the pier to the lawn’s edge and just stood there,
waiting for some security personal with an accent to come running out of the house which never happened.
I probably stood there for about 2-3 minutes and saw no one during this time. The things that do stick out
in my mind from that moment is that I remember all of the 1st floor windows had bars on them which were ornate
in design but seriously took away from the natural beauty of the impeccably maintained house. The other thing
that I remember is that on the roof there 5-7 satellite dishes and a couple of antennas, which again didn’t fit in
with the beautiful surroundings of the property. I’m still surprised that no one was there that day to greet me at
the Russian “vacation home” but looking back it was probably for the best.
I don’t think Obama’s restriction to this property by the Russians will last to much longer beyond 1/20/17 when
Donald Trump takes over as President of the United States because Obama has failed to make public the data
that he says is the incriminating evidence against the Russians. It’s nothing more than “bad politics” which can
be added to Obama’s long list of miserable failures regarding his foreign policy over the past 8 years. Between this
and what Obama has done concerning Israel and the UN during this past week only reinforces the idea
that he is clueless [ at best ] about what is best for America and her allies abroad.
In the end if I were the Russians I wouldn’t cancel my cable tv service anytime soon, Then again, if they are as
guilty as President Obama believes they are for hacking in to US based computer systems they probably had one
of their IT guys run a cable line from the road to their “vacation home” and they are getting basic cable with the
movie channels for free anyway. Only in America.
Mark Dell Acqua
MARY WOOD says
THE TUCKAHOE PONY CLUB HAD THE USE OF THE BARN,INDOOR RIDING RING AND STALLS FOR SEVERAL YEARS. POT LUCK SUPPERS IN THE HANDSOME UPSTAIRS HALL, HORSE SHOWS IN THE OUTDOORS RIDING RING. THE CLUB HAD YOUNG RIDERS FROM KENT,QUEEN ANNE’S & CAROLINE COUNTIES.
Fletcher R. Hall says
I find it a bit ironic that this estate was once owned by John Jacob Raskob. He was a significant American financer. business mogul and responsible for the construction of the Empire State Building. He was treasurer of the National Democrat Party and a supporter of Al Smith for president. His business career and financial acumen was involved with Dupont and General Motors. And, along came the Russians. Quite and amazing turn of events.