From The Archives
c. 1910 American Foursquare
A Glorious Ruin
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Amy, a member of the discussion list at www.lovemyoldhome.com, found this fading jewel, far off the beaten track in Maryland.
It is all the more precious because of its transience. It will fall for development, or yield to the patient, relentless recycling of nature. Or maybe it will be reclaimed, by brave and foolish romantics.
But whatever happens, what you see here, for all its stillness, is a thing in motion. Thanks to Amy, who captured a glimpse of it in the summer of 2004, we have this memory of memories.
Scroll down below the map for more information
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More About The House
The house is in Prince George's County, MD. It's in the block of land between
Route 301, Route 202, Route 214, and Route 725 just north of the county seat
of Upper Marlboro. Going by the traffic noise I'd say it's pretty close
to Route 301. There are no modern roads that go to the house.
There are some remaining (but overgrown and deteriorated) brick roads through
the property that go by the house and its outbuildings. Nearest the house the
road is overgrown in English Ivy, imported for the house's garden. Local rumor
has it that the original lady of the house was English and missed home, so they
brought plants from England to make her happy.
There are a number of outbuildings nearby, some in very good condition. There's
a two bay carriage house just east of the house. It's been there long enough for
large trees to grow just in front of the bay doors.
Behind the house are what look like collapsed henhouses. Just behind and to the side
is a half-collapsed series of sheds ending in a smokeroom. There's a dry well with some
plumbing there too. The well is bricklined and appears to be only about 8 feet deep.
A brick path leads from the house to the building with the smokeroom.
Interestingly, the smokeroom has no outside doors. You could only enter it through
the series of attached sheds. Since those are now collapsed, there's no entryway.
There's also a small barn raised up off the ground a little way down the brick
road, but it's home to a badger so we didn't explore much. We did notice that it's hand-notched and built without nails.
The house itself seems to have started small and grown in stages. At first glance
it looks like a coherent (though crumbled) design, but once you look inside you
realize that the wings weren't added at the same times, and that they're neither the
same dimensions nor the same design.
A local hunter described the enclosed porch and its stained glass for us as it
appeared 20 years ago. We didn't find any broken colored glass on the ground, so I
assume it was salvaged, along with the banisters and balusters inside. The porch
was on the east side so it must have caught the morning light.
The courtyard between the wings is entirely overgrown, but must have been
a delight at one time. There are doors leading to it from the parlor and from the
central room with the huge chimney.
We found three stoves and two refrigerators in different locations around the house.
I have no idea what that's about. :)
The retrofitted ductwork in the newer portion of the house was interesting for being
only about 4 inches deep. The ceilings there are quite low, so any bigger and
most people wouldn't have been able to walk through the hall.
Comments & Feedback
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