“Green’s Folly? What a weird name for a golf course.” Of course, it wasn’t originally a golf course; the name came from the manor house that still stands on the property. In 1804, work began on a grand house for Colonel Berryman Green, whose specifications took up four pages on the contract for the work.
Four years and two carpenters later, the house was finally completed, but at a much higher cost than the $1,000 Green had initially agreed to pay. The lawsuit between Green and the original carpenter dragged on for another nine years. Given the amounts of time, money and legal wrangling involved, it’s easy to see why such a lovely house could be dubbed a folly.
Compounding the folly, the house didn’t even stay in the Green family for more than a generation, as Green’s heirs sold the land to pay for their children’s college educations. After changing hands several times and spending a few years in the early 20th century as a racetrack, the property was finally purchased in 1918 by R.S. Barbour Sr. a buggy magnate, who restored the house to its present condition.