Pioneer Point, Centreville, Maryland | |
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 Interactive map of Pioneer Point, Centreville, Maryland | |
| Coordinates:39°4′39″N76°8′37″W / 39.07750°N 76.14361°W /39.07750; -76.14361 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maryland |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.069 sq mi (0.18 km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern (EST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
Pioneer Point, also calledHartefeld Hall andHartefeld House, is aGeorgian style[1] house and surrounding 45-acre estate nearCentreville, Maryland, onMaryland's Eastern Shore lying on a peninsula formed by the confluence of theCorsica andChester rivers.[2] The property is owned by theRussian Government as a recreational place for its diplomatic staff in the United States and activities there are protected underdiplomatic immunity.
Pioneer Point is the former estate of wealthy business executive, and builderJohn J. Raskob who is best known for building theEmpire State Building inNew York City. Raskob constructed the 19 room mansion originally known as "Hartefeld Hall" after purchasing a 1600-acre tract of land on the Eastern Shore in 1925.[3] Raskob later built another large house nearby to accommodate his 13 children.[1]
After Raskob's death in 1950, the estate wassubdivided and the mansion changed hands several times - at one point it was owned by millionaire industrialist R.J. Funkhouser.[4]
In 1972, the property was bought by theSoviet Government, with subsequent Soviet additions to the property being funded by granting two properties in Moscow to theUnited States State Department.[2]
In 1991, following thecollapse of the Soviet Union, the property came under ownership of theRussian Government, with the property valued at $3 million at that time.[5] In 2007, the property was likened to adacha byYuri Ushakov, theRussian ambassador to the United States.[6]
On December 29, 2016, Russian access to the site was commuted in the wake of the allegedRussian involvement in the 2016 United States presidential election as part ofa number of sanctions taken by the United States against Russian diplomatic personnel.[7][8][9][10] President Barack Obama, in announcing the sanctions, stated that Pioneer Point and another compound in New York were "used by Russian personnel for intelligence-related purposes."[11]
On May 31, 2017, six months after the sanctions,The Washington Post reported that PresidentDonald Trump and his administration had decided to return Pioneer Point back to the Russian government.[11]
