Goshen Farm was built sometime around 1780 by John Pettibone Gardiner and first appeared on tax records in 1798 under Richard Pettibone Gardiner, probably his son. It was two rooms on the bottom floor and two above. In 1800 Richard Gardiner owned nine slaves. In 1853 his heirs had to sell the land to settle a debt. Henry Tydings purchased that house and the remaining 179 acres at an auction. He had the slave (servants) quarters moved up to the main house to serve as the kitchen. He was married to Margaret Stinchcomb who grew up in the "Stinchcomb" house on Swan Dr. With his second wife, Henry had his last child Mary L. Tydings. Mary and her husband Charles Carroll Brice lived with Henry at Goshen and helped him run the farm. In 1911 Henry passed away and Mary inherited the farm. She and "Carroll" ran a Dairy Farm there. Mary sold off 4 ½ acres of land to the St. Margarets Hunt Club (which is on Cape St. Claire Rd and is a private residence now). She also sold off pieces of the farm to Dr. Hugh Hampton Young for the development of Cape St. Claire.

In 1930 the Brice’s defaulted on their mortgage and lost the farm. Roland Alexander Bell (rumored to be Alexander Graham Bell’s grandson) purchased the farm and lived there for approximately four years. He then sold the farm to the Jondreau’s. Due to an unfortunate accident the Jondreau’s had to sell the farm and this is when Dr. Morris Leon Radoff purchased it- around 1941. The house had no electricity. After WWII he finally got electric to the house. Dr. and Mrs. May Radoff had goats, chickens, horses and cattle on their farm. May grew herbs and flowers and loved their bird dogs. Dr. Radoff was approached several times during the development of Cape St. Claire to sell his land which he refused to do. In 1967 the AA County Board of Education began proceedings to take his land by eminent domain for the elementary school. Dr. Radoff negotiated for a slightly better price than they wanted to pay. He had the house put on the Maryland Register of Historic Places. In 1975 the school board came to him to take the remaining land for a Junior High School. Under duress Dr. Radoff sold the remaining land and set up a Living Trust so that he and May could live out their years on what was left of his farm.

Dr. Radoff fought hard to save his property; he also began the application to put the house on the National Register of Historic Homes. That was denied by the school board as they were in ownership of the home by that time. In 1977 Dr. Radoff died. His wife lived in the home until her death in the mid 1991. A series of caretakers have since lived in the home. Trash had been dumped there and it was unkempt. In 2005 or so the last tenant moved out and the house has been sitting empty.

The Goshen Farm Preservation Society has been established to restore and preserve the historic Goshen Farm and (Radoff) House. This farm is a very important part of the history of Cape St. Claire and Anne Arundel County. This property is located behind the Cape St. Claire Elementary School and is one of the few examples left of a Colonial farm in the county.

See: http://cscia.wikispaces.com/timeline

Some quotes:

"When you stand out on that porch, you can almost envision what it looked like as a farm, and that's why the citizens fought so hard for it," -Councilman Cathleen M. Vitale, R-Severna Park.

"There are bright-eyed youngsters working on preserving the Goshen house. I remember when Dr. Radoff lived there, and the Brice family before him," he said. "They've done a really, really nice job of organizing and I recommended the folks at Cape St. Claire set up a charter incorporating as a charity and a second charter that establishes an endowment for the property after the initial restoration is done. It's for repairs and things that have to be done in the future." -Historian Orlando Ridout IV

After the farm is renovated, it will grow in value to area residents as a park-like setting for family outings and a facility for community activities.