Located on the seaside of Virginia’s Eastern Shore peninsula in the town of Mappsville along the Assawoman Creek, Wharton Place currently encompasses approximately 100 acres of farmland, woodland, marsh, yard and gardens surrounding an early 19th Century brick residential structure constructed for John and Elizabeth Wharton, with several contemporary, as well as more modern, outbuildings.  At approximately 42 feet above sea level, Wharton Place is situated atop one of the highest elevations on the Eastern Shore.

As described elsewhere herein, John Wharton’s holdings were considerably larger than the current acreage (approximately 7,568 acres at his death in 1814, according to one source) with local lore that his property spanned the width of the Eastern Shore, from the Chesapeake Bay to the Atlantic Ocean (including one or more of the nearby Barrier Islands).  With the passage of time, related bequests and sales, the acreage surrounding Wharton Place had shrunk to approximately 300 acres when the property left the Whartons’ extended family in 1942.

These 300 acres were further subdivided in the 1980s and in 2002 Wharton Place included approximately 45 acres.  Between 2002 and 2005 approximately 55 additional acres of farm and woodland surrounding the property were acquired bringing the total acreage to its current size.  In 2006 a conservation easement was placed on the property and donated to the Virginia Eastern Shore Land Trust protecting the parcel from future subdivision and development.