The Barker-Phillips Coven

In Beldam, there are many witch covens. Some are merely tolerated, some are seen as beneficial to society, others are loathed and considered criminals and enemies of the Most Illuminated Church. There is one coven, however, that to this day continues to operate with autonomy in Beldam. The provincial Counts and the church clergy, refuses to acknowledge their existence or any inferred relationship to the coven. The power and influence of this family coven of witches and warlocks is indisputable among the people of Beldam. They are known, by their family name, as "The Coven Barker-Phillips."
The coven was established during the initial colonization of Beldam by Madame Majestic Julia of Barker. Madame Julia, a grand witch, was wed to Vizier Boris Phillips, a High Sorcerer, on board the vessel, Carpanzia, during the Ellington-Cottingly Beldam Company's maiden voyage. The Vizier was a wealthy heir to the throne of a cruel and despotic kingdom to the east. Vizer Boris took his significant inheritance to Bedlam, along with 100 men and three ships, to aid the Ellington-Cottingly company in colonizing the island continent. Although Boris intended to depart from the dark magic of his homeworld, the charms and influence of the stunningly beautiful and persuasive Julia, lured him into her unique brand of sorcery and witchcraft.
Upon her arrival, Julia and Boris established a spectacular mansion, Willingham Rose (named after their first son), in the mountains of northern Beldam. They quickly grew into an influential family. Boris, not wanting to assume an overarching leadership role in the colony, established the Independent District of Barker-Phillips, which included not only the ever growing and expanding Willingham Rose mansion, but also many acres of land in and around the mountains on which it resided.
In doing so, he forged a political hegemony, leveraging his vast wealth and connections overseas to create an autonomy away from the political squabbling of the provincial counts and the oversight of the Most Illuminated Church. His wife Julia, established a coven, starting from those loyal to her and the Vizier, then extending to her numerous children, grandchildren, and eventually great grandchildren. 
Today, the Barker-Phillips family is rumored to be nearly 500 strong. The mansion called Willingham Rose, is more of a small, walled city. Those who bear the standard, signet, or mark of the family have immunity from prosecution in Bedlam by anyone other than the familial government. The signet and other family symbols are cursed, to avoid counterfeits. They are fully exempt from church tithing restrictions, although they maintain a ceremonial tithe willingly. The family is believed to have infiltrated all aspects of life and commerce in Beldam and are rumored to maintain a secret, supernatural army of their own. Several efforts have been made throughout the centuries by various provinces in Beldam to unseat or disperse the family, but all such attempts have ended disastrously for those who have tried.
The coven is not officially recognized as such by the provincial governments or the church, but is instead viewed as a kind of independent state, within Beldam. Over the years, the Willingham Rose Mansion continues to grow and expand, unceasingly, twenty-four hours a day. A crew of 30 workers, working in three shifts, continually, work to expand and to enlarge the house at the orders of its original designer and founder, Madame Julia Barker-Phillips, and it's current architect, Claudia Barker-Phillips. Madame Julia's last words to her 11 children, 31 grandchildren, and 66 great grandchildren, as she died at age 113, were "Build, always build, never let this house stand still! As long as you build, my children, our family remains alive and strong!"