June 23, 2014

I’ll Take This: 1700’s Stone House

When we were children, a friend of my father’s owned this house, which was way out in the country. I remember the family, who had a bunch of boys. We’d play in the fields surrounding the house and explore the property. craddockYear by year, the family sold off some of the 170+ acres until just the house and a little less than an acre were left. New “town-home” developments completely encircled it. The family moved and the house fell into disrepair.

About 12 years ago, it was purchased and carefully and sensitively restored to its original glory… after pacifying the ghost who was causing trouble with the workmen and their tools. image

Now it’s on the market again, and will go for auction later this week.

The property includes this sweet octagonal spring house, which could be used as an office or studio.  (If you look on the right of this picture, you can see how closely the new development encroaches onto the property.)image

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The house was built in an ell-shape, and it covers about 8,000 square feet. image

For the past few years, the property has been used as a wellness center, so the interiors are more commercial than residential. image

But many of the original details remain, like the high ceilings, marble fireplaces and wide-plank wood floors. image

It looks like the systems have been upgraded, and with a bit of work, this could be a gorgeous home again!image

The property is listed on the Baltimore County’s historic register. craddoc2k

For information on the auction, please click here.

11 comments:

  1. Beautiful property! Do you know when and or the origin of the "ell" shaped house. My very much smaller and simple farmhouse in neighboring cenral PA is a 2 door ell with the ell added sometime before 1850 but was not part of the orginal structure. I have not been able to find many details or any pictures of interiors of thesecommon homes in the area. o

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    1. I wonder if it's something to do with a wind-break.

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  2. How lucky to have known that family + stunning. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

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    1. My mother assured me that I've never been there. I disagreed.

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  3. Meg this is such an interesting and intriguing property. Were you familiar with the ghost as a child?

    xoxo
    Karena
    The Arts by Karena

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    1. I wasn't. The man who renovated the house had some trouble with her.

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  4. What a fabulous place. I hope it gets bought as a single family home. So much decorating to do! I'd love to see it without parking for 25, too. That alone would be outrageously $ to get rid of. Such a grand house. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. My recollection was of an open lawn inside the ell.

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  5. Ah, the old Craddock estate, it was sad to see it leave the family, as so many of the great Valley houses have. Even more disappointing to see the acreage gracelessly cut up. The Valleys Planning Council should have stepped in to stop this one. Thankfully Green Spring Punch shouldn't suffer the same fate even though they Baetjer's have finally sold the place.

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    1. Ugh. VPC should have stepped in, but there's some odd history with the house/property.

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  6. Lovely house! I saw a ghost about 20 years ago in our old house - lived there 12 years and only saw it one time. I didn't mess with it or try to bring it out - I just carried on as if nothing changed. It is all very strange. The people who purchased our home had poltergeist type activity - the realtor (my good friend) filled me in - evidently a electrician came running out from the basement and never returned. All the kitchen cabinet doors hanging open - that sort of thing. We had some other 'experiences" to long to go into here - yes, ghost really do exist!

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