Tufts lives in a home decorated with recycled parts with historic significance, such as Tiffany windows designed for a home on DuPont Circle in Washington, D.C., and an Italian carved mantel. Her father, an Army medical doctor, purchased the land, now called Tulip Hill, as a fishing camp in 1920. In 1939, a 14-room home was built. Tufts and her mother shopped for bargains at architectural demolition sites around the region, acquiring many of the historic pieces the house still has today.
The home, called "A House of Many Mansions" in a Washington Star Pictorial Magazine article, was recently honored by the Prince George's County's Historic Preservation Commission. Tufts received a medallion plaque, which was presented July 15 by County Councilman Tony Knotts (D-Dist. 8) of Temple Hills.
"Part of the reason is that the home was made from recycled parts," said David Turner, Historic Preservation Commission chairman. "Her home also has open space, and archeologists found the land to be an early Indian area."
Tufts also imported and planted bamboo decades ago that is still used to feed the pandas at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
But Tufts didn't want to talk much about her family's home. She worried more about saving her 14 acres of land. No one has tried to buy her land, but she has been approached by real estate agents who want her to sell.
Members of the Potomac Valley Citizens Association said they are fighting to keep open land and historic houses, like Tulip Hill, safe.
"I've had people argue with me and ask questions like, ‘Why worry about [keeping land at Tulip Hill]?. You can't see it from your house,'" said Dawn Davitt, an association member.
Davitt said it's important to keep historic land and sites preserved for generations to come.
"It's nothing like being taken to an actual spot where history occurred," she said. "By standing on this land, minds can actually visualize what happened."
The entrance to Tulip Hill is decorated with two brick gateways from a 1950s White House renovation. Parts of the White House went on sale after it was gutted. Tufts paid $10 for two bricks. Its long dirt driveway leads to a Colonial-style house.
Davitt said there are about 300 historic sites in the county. She said it has been her goal to make more people aware of the importance of preservation of open space.
Davitt also said artifacts from Indian villages were found along the Potomac. In Tufts' backyard, an Indian stone hatchet and arrowhead were found by a worker and later determined by archeologists as authentic. Tufts couldn't recall when they were found.
"This property is maybe thousands of years old," said Tufts. "If we dig deeper, we might find Indian relics."
