Linthicum Centennial: House Tour Celebrates Our Past

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Linthicum had had house tours in the past, but none that drew as many people and as much interest as the Centennial House Tour that was held April 27. The Centennial Committee sold a whopping 283 tickets to the tour. Not everyone who bought a ticket made it to every home on the tour, but some proved very popular. The Old Linthicum Estate on Valley Road, which was the first time on the tour, counted 241 visitors alone. The Benson-Hammond House recorded an impressive 126 visitors, as well.

John Stoll, the 90-year-old great-nephew of John Stoll who built the Old Stoll Farmhouse on Jerome Avenue was the host in the house in the afternoon, said Celeste Riddle, who chaired the House Tour subcommittee for the Centennial. "He is delighted that 'this young couple bought the house and are restoring it historically.' He also said that not many of the Stoll farmhouses are still around."

"When I was touring the Tenant Farmer's House on Forest View Road, a woman who had grown up in the house was touring it -- she was on the Andover grad list and had found out about the tour that way -- and was just thrilled to see the house again," Riddle said. "She was looking for a "Z" for Zorro that she had carved in the newel post but it had been painted over so many times that we couldn't see it."

Riddle said other items of note from the tour included:

* A visitor to the Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church reported to the hostess there that she had been baptized in the church when it was a
Methodist Church in the 1920s;

* Former Linthicum resident David Linthicum had been quite anxious to see the Old Linthicum Estate on Valley Road and made a special trip to visit it. He currently resides on Maryland's Eastern Shore;

* Many people on the tour reported how very enjoyable it was, and they were pleased that there was such a great variety of houses and landmarks. Many people remembered the train station as a library and later as a nursery school;

* One of the highlights of the Old Andover Farmhouse was a 10-day-old filly who was grazing behind the barn with her mother (they had identical white patches on their foreheads) and an "aunt."

Some of the homes and Linthicum landmarks on the tour included:

The Old Linthicum Estate on Valley Road. Originally built in 1910 by Dr. G. Milton and Laura E. Linthicum, this Colonial Revival house has been extensively renovated by the new owners. Even though modern enhancements have been added, care has been taken to keep many of the historical features of the stately home including the original French doors, Hardwood floors and dining room chandeliers. Although the former screened-in porch is now a family room, it still has the old wooden ceiling.

On East Maple Road, tour visitors will find The Honeymoon Cottage. The story goes that this 1930 Dutch Colonial was built as a wedding gift for the newlyweds. The new owner has kept intact most of the historic aspects of the house: the original old paned-glass windows, hardwood floors and the charming screened-in summer porch. The interior showcases eclectic furnishings with a contemporary flair and a particularly efficient modern kitchen—all blending in perfectly with the unique design of the house.

On the West Side of Camp Meade Road, visitors will find the Janyska Home on S. Hammonds Ferry Road. This property features a stone retaining wall built by the WPA, the USA Work Program, in the late 1930's. Built about 1912, it has many unique “nooks and crannies” along with its original pine floors. The kitchen has an over the door transom and is unusual in that both ceiling and walls are covered with a decorative tile which gives the room a European imprint. The side porch with its original wainscoting has been enclosed as an office and the upstairs bedrooms feature high, small stained-glass windows.

On Hawthorne Road is the Bieler Home. Built around 1912, it features original carving on the living room mantel and built in shelves that flank the French doors that lead into what was once a screened-in side porch and is now the family room. Off the country kitchen an addition is now a sunny breakfast room. Several architectural details, such as crown molding, ceiling medallions and an embossed paper “tin” ceiling in the kitchen, are new.

Forest View Road is the site of a Tenant Farmer’s House built in the 1800s or even earlier and was located on the William Shipley farm. It had the distinction of being the oldest house on the Tour. A tenant farmer could live in the house for “board and wood”. The original house was a three-room shanty and through the years has seen many changes. Originally it sat in the middle of what is now Forest View Road, and when the road was built, the house was moved back and down two lots. The house has the original wide-planked hardwood floors, molding and the newel post on the stairs.

Linden Hill: Joshua Linthicum built this Colonial Revival house in 1910 for his bride, Bertha. The sweeping lawn once held a variety of boxwood, azalea and a large Magnolia tree, which still stands. The home was built to take advantage of summer breezes with its cross-ventilation and summer sleeping porch on the third floor. The Linthicum's daughter inherited the house and lived there until it was sold in 1972. The new owners lived in it until 2005 when the house and its three plus acres were sold to a developer. Although recently extensively renovated, some of the natural charm of this magnificent house has been retained.

On Andover Road is the Andover Farmhouse and Windsor Stables at the Andover Equestrian Center. The typical L-shaped farmhouse on this 25-acre horse farm was built about 1860. It features original architectural details including hardwood floors in the dining room that have an inlay design and stairs leading from the back upstairs of the house down to the kitchen and. The large barn on the property, built as a dairy barn in the “gambrel roof” style, is also open for the tour. It was the first time having the farmhouse on the Tour. But perhaps the biggest attraction here was a 10-day-old colt, who wobbled around its mother and stole the show.

The Linthicum Train Station where the B&A Railroad began operations in 1887. Constructed in 1908 as a waiting station with a ticket window, an addition was added in 1921 and in 1930 the building was increased to its present size. After passenger trains ceased operation in 1950, the station became Linthicum’s first library in 1957 and later was used by St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church as a co-op nursery school. The building was renovated in August 1984 by owner, Kenneth A. Pippin, who has used it as his office headquarters. The station is a landmark in the community it once served.

Holly Run Chapel, built in 1828, is the first Methodist Protestant Church in the world. It is said that it was constructed with bricks from an abandoned War of 1812 powder house, transported as ballast in a ship from England. In 1886 an addition created room for a semi-circular rostrum and a larger pulpit. An unknown itinerant German artist painted the walls and ceiling with beautiful stenciling. Artist, Ron Spencer later diligently reproduced this delicate stenciling, after the church was moved to its present location and again after lighting struck the church in 2004. The chapel is a testimony to the faith and devotion of the early residents of our community.

The Holy Cross Antiochian Orthodox Church was originally the second Methodist church in Linthicum. The cornerstone was laid on December 3, 1911. Its Romanesque design underscores the importance of religion in the community and the granite suggests an immovable faith and a bastion of belief. The church has been a home for many other denominations after the Methodists built a nearby larger church.