Old Field, for 58 years the home of noted Calvert County citizen, Harriet Elizabeth (Betty) Worthington Briscoe, was originally built in the last decade of the nineteenth century by Judge John Parran Briscoe, Chief Judge of the Seventh Judicial Circuit Court of Maryland. Old Field was named after a tract of land called Williams Old Fields, so called because the Williams family, original owners of the land, felt that it was no longer suitable for planting. Part of this land was donated to the County for the purpose of building the first Calvert County Court House. Judge Briscoe erected Old Field near the foundation of an old log barn. Some of the foundation and old hand hewn beams from that barn can still be found in the cellar of Old Field.

     When Judge Briscoe's legal career forced him to move his family to Baltimore in the early 1920's, the house stood vacant for several years. In 1927 Old Field became the home of Dr. Everard Briscoe and his family. Dr. Briscoe, a native of Calvert County, was already an established surgeon at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore, but moved to Old Field after receiving petitions from the people of the first and second election districts of Calvert County asking him to come and "walk in the footsteps of his father", the late Dr. Philip Briscoe, and "administer to his native people".

     The first doctor in Calvert County to hold regular office hours, Dr. Briscoe practiced medicine from Old Field for 17 years until his untimely death in 1944.

     Dr. Briscoe's widow, Betty, established herself as one of Calvert County's leading citizens. In the early 1930's she founded the Prince Frederick Garden Club and in 1936, the Calvert Garden Club. She was a charter member of the Calvert County Historical Society. In 1954 she began writing a weekly column, "Know your County" for the Calvert Independent which she continued until her death in February, 1981.

     Mrs. Briscoe was trained as a gracious hostess and the doors of Old Field were always open to guests. It is because of her numerous contributions to Calvert County that Old Field will long be remembered as "Betty Briscoe's home".

     Old Field opened to the public in November 1984. All of the guest areas of Old Field are part of the original home, only the restaurant kitchen is new.

     Now under new ownership as of May 2003, Executive Chef Brendan and his wife Ashley Cahill are working to preserve one of Calvert County's finest restaurants.