Today a nursing home, Brooke Grove of the early 1800s was a unique Sandy Spring plantation, run by Roger Brooke V. His fiefdom embraced 14,700 acres and all the elements of a self-contained village: smithy, carpenter shop, machine shop, meat house, ice house, cider mill, even a water-powered grist and saw mill. In one important way Brooke's plantation differed from those of tidewater Virginia and Maryland: The devout Quaker held no slaves. Built originally by Roger Brooke IV in 1760, Brooke Grove was totally replaced in 1860.

Quaker preacher, progressive farmer, ardent follower of the Brooke fox hounds, Roger Brooke V (1774-1860) looms large among 19th century Sandy Springers. Wrote historian Farquhar, "Brooke was a pioneer in improved (farming) systems...devoted much time and thought to planting orchards, draining wetlands, removing stones, and procuring improved livestock...his funeral...was attended by one hundred men on horseback and fifty carriages full of mourners."