MARYLAND



Maryland BOONSBORO; Washington County
  
(a) Keedy House (39.53959, -77.698585) Felling dates: Winter 1775/6, Spring 1777

(b) Keedy Cottage (39.539694, -77.698923) Felling dates: Spring 1809

(a) Joists 1775 (28C, 23C), 1771(15), 1763, 1759; Rafters 1776(¼C3); Tiebeams (0/2). (b) Fireplace lintel 1808(15¼C); Joists 1808(19¼C), 1805(13), 1803(10), 1791(H/S). Site Master 1643-1808 KEEDSITE (t = 8.5 ALLENS; 6.9 MKF; 6.4 WATCH; 6.2 FORES).

Description: The 2 1/2-story Keedy House faces south, built of coursed gray stone. The house is three bays wide and two deep. The entrance is in the east bay with a single 9/9 light window with heavy muntins in each of the other bays. The easternmost window in the second floor has 6/6 lights while the other two are modern 1/1 sash. The frames of the windows and door are very plain and held together with wood pins. Surmounting each window is a stone segmental arch. Flanking the center window in the second floor are small, arched recesses, perhaps intended to contain date markers. A brick chimney pierces the gable roof between the center and east bays. Over the doorway is a small one-story porch with square posts and railings. The west end has two windows on each floor, variously 6/6, 12/8, and 1/1, with a central 6-light casement in the gable. The first story on the north side is built partially into the hillside. There is a door in the west bay and a 6/6 window in the center, with another 6/6 window over these. A shed-roofed screened porch covers the first story. Projecting from the east bay is a one-room addition with a 6/6 light window on the west side. The north end of the addition has an inside end chimney, brick above the roofline. The east side of the addition has a door and 6/6 window. The east end of the main house has two 9/6 windows on the first floor and 6/6 windows above, with a 6-light casement in the gable. West of the house is a small stone bank house, two bays by two bays, with a two-story porch, known as the Keedy Cottage. Significance: Probably built soon after 1791, the house is an extant example of the type of farmhouse built in Washington County during the 18th and early 19th centuries. It is a two story house with small rooms, built of the gray stone found in the county. This brief description could be that of any number of farmers' homes that once dotted the countryside and it stands as a visible reminder of the families who lived and farmed in this area. As such, the Keedy House is significant as an example of the vernacular architecture of the late 18th century. (National Register: 74000972 (7/25/1974) Miles, D H, and Worthington, M J, 2007 “The Tree-Ring Dating of Keedy House and Cottage, Boonsboro, Washington County, Maryland ”, ODL unpubl rep 2007/7
 


HOLLYWOOD, Sotterley Mansion, St Mary’s County (Latitude: 38.375725 / Longitude: -76.545625)

(a) Primary phase Felling dates: Summer 1701 and Winter 1703/4

(b) West Wing Felling dates: Spring and Summer 1715

(c) Knee walls in West Wing Felling date: Winter 1723/4

(d) First Southern Extension Felling dates: Winter 1731/2 and Summer 1732

(e) Raising of East Roof Slope over 1st Phase Felling dates: Summer 1761 to Winter 1762/3

(f) Northern Extension Felling dates: Summer 1768 to Winter 1769/70

(a) Rafters (11/13) 1703(7C, 10C, 11C2, 12C), 1701(10), 1700(8½C, 11½C), 1699(7), 1696(3), 1691; Joists (1/2) 1690; Clapboard 1696(2). (b) Rafters 1714(8½C, 9¼C, 10¼C, 11½C, 12¼C, 12½C), 1713(7). (c) Knee-wall stud 1723(22C). (d) Studs 1731(C2), 1703; Rafters (3/5) 1731(C, ½C), 1682; Ceiling joists (2/3) 1678, 1664; (e) Rafters 1762(C), 1761(½C); Collars 1760(½C); Collars 1760(½C), 1756; Strut 1759; (f) Stud 1769(C); Joists (1/5) 1768(½C); Rafters 1767(½C), 1757, 1653; Beam 1759; String 1768 (½C); Binder (0/1). Site Masters (a) 1601-1703 SOTx1 (oak) (t = 5.1 OMBx1; 4.6 PIEDMONT; 4.6 MONTP); (b+c) 1650-1723 SOTx2 (oak) (t = 5.1 PIEDMONT; 4.9 MONTP; 4.7 OMBx1); (d) 1573-1731 SOTx3 (poplar) (t = 8.0 SOTx45; 4.1 SOTx12); (e+f) 1583-1769 SOTx45 (poplar) (t = 6.2 VA023; 4.5 OMBx1; 4.4 PIEDMONT)

BUILDING DESCRIPTION TO BE INSERTED HERE

Miles, D H, and Worthington, M J, 2006 “The Tree-Ring Dating of Sotterley Mansion, Hollywood, Maryland”, ODL unpubl rep 2006/6



PRESTON, Caroline Co.; Linchester Mill (Lat 38.70085; Long -75.89740)

Primary Construction Phase Felling dates: Winter 1823/4, Spring 1824

Post 1823(24C); Girts 1823(16¼C, 22¼C); Brace 1799. Site Master 1592-1823 LMP (t = 6.5 UTCx1; 6.38 RED; 6.25 MTVx2).

Linchester Mill is a two and a half story frame structure, four bays long and two bays deep, with a two story lean-to addition on the east side and a one story lean-to addition on the west side. The original 1824 building was 3 bays wide, with the additional bay being added on the west side around 1880. The western lean-to addition was constructed prior to 1900 and the east one was built by 1918 based on datable photographic evidence. The roof is steeply pitched, covered with raised seam tin and has recently been replaced based on historical photographs. The front (north) façade, which faces the road, has a large gull wing awning also covered in raised seam tin. The primary entry is on the west side of the north façade. The building is faced in 20th century weatherboard that has been painted red and is erratically fenestrated on the first floor.



PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY; Melwood Park (38.813117° -76.816733°)

(a) Primary phase Felling dates: Spring 1711, Winter 1712/13, Winter 1713/14, and Summer 1714

(b) Gable end extensions and raising of front roof slope Felling dates: Winter 1765/6, Summer 1766, and Winter 1766/7

(a) Principal rafters(1/2) 1712(C); Common rafters (10/17) 1713(22C, 20C, ½C2, C3), 1712(C), 1710(17), 1708; Ex situ clapboards 1710(16¼C, 9¼C, 5¼C, 1696(1710) (¼C); Sill beam (0/1); Floor joists (1/3) 1694(1). (b) Principal rafters (2/4) 1766(C), 1765(C); Collars 1766(C), 1765(1766) (C), 1765(½C4), 1761, 1751, 1750; Ex situ clapboard 1748(14); Floor joists 1752(16), 1742, 1741; Common rafter (0/1); Sill beam (0/1); Inserted posts (0/2). Site Masters 1620-1752 MELx1 (oak) (t = 5.8 MONTP; 5.5 PIEDMONT; 4.7 BPR; 4.6 HQF); 1574-1766 MELx2 (tulip poplar) (t = 8.4 SOTx45; 5.0 WRE; 4.9 HSC; 3.8 GLOx1); 1597-1748 MELx3 (oak clapboards) (t = 6.0 PIEDMONT; 5.8 MONTP; 5.1 EYREHALL; 5.0 SOTx12).

Melwood Park, Prince George’s County, Maryland, is a multi-phased building, the earliest of which was thought to have been constructed in the late 1720s. The dendrochronological analysis has moved this back by over a decade to a likely construction date of 1714. The roof is remarkable on account of its principal rafter construction with light-weight riven common rafters with some of the original red oak clapboards. Ex situ slices of four of these were found to have been felled in the spring of 1711, demonstrating that these had been seasoned for several years before being used. In 1767 the house was extended at both ends and the roof raised at the front. A large number of rafters and collars relating to this work produced precise felling dates of winter 1765/6 to winter 1766/7. The majority of the timbers used on this later phase of work was of tulip poplar, compared with the equal mixture of oak and poplar used in the Period I structure. 1750 to c1800. Miles, D H, and Worthington, M J, 2008 “The Tree-Ring Dating of Melwood Park, Prince George’s County, Maryland”, ODL unpubl rep 2008/16



SHARPSBURG, MARYLAND: Middlekauf Farm; Kelly’s Purchase (39.495998, -77.744681)

(a) Primary phase Felling dates: Winter 1749/50, Spring 1750, Summer 1750, and Winter 1750/51

(b) Ground-floor partition wall Felling dates: Winter 1773/4

(c) Kitchen extension Felling date: Spring 1790

(d) Alteration for attic staircase Felling date: Winter 1813/14

(a) Ceiling joists 1750(C, 26C), 1749(12¼C, 13¼C, 13½C, 29C), 1747(21), 1740(6); (b) Studs 1773(C3), 1767, 1761(4); (c) Mantel beam 1789(23¼C); Rafters (0/3), Upstairs ceiling joists (0/3); (d) Stair joist 1813(30C). Site Master: 1630-1813 MKF (t = 7.5 ALLENS; 6.3 WATCH; 5.3 PIEDMONT).

The early house known as Kelly’s Purchase was constructed in two periods. The original house is of brick construction, 1½ stories with flush chimneys at each end of the pitched gable roof. The interior consists of three rooms on the first story and two finished chambers in the garret. This dwelling is representative in form and detail of a house type built in Tidewater Maryland and Virginia from the 1730s to about 1760. The level of finish indicates it was intended as the residence of the owner rather than as a tenancy. At an early date, the house was enlarged to the east by a kitchen wing constructed of neatly laid fieldstone. Finishes in the wing are typical of the last quarter of the eighteenth century and the uniform use of hand-forged nails indicates the house should date no later than the second decade of the nineteenth century. The wing is representative of vernacular building practices in Washington County, Maryland, suggesting a distinct break with the aesthetic desires of the original builder. The core samples from the original brick house date from a two-year period—winter of 1749/50 and winter of 1750/51, with construction most likely initiated in the spring of 1751 by Thomas Kelly. Samples from the interior first-floor partition indicate an important building campaign to complete the main house in the winter of 1773/74. While based on a limited sample, the 1790 tree-ring date for the stone wing is a good fit with the documentary evidence, indicating it was built following John Middlekauf’s acquisition of the property in 1788. The 1813 date for a joist aligned with the stair in the wing suggests another period of modification to the interior later in the Middlekauf family ownership. Miles, D H, and Worthington, M J, 2006 “The Tree-Ring Dating of Middlekauf Farm, Sharpsburg, Maryland”, ODL unpubl rep 2006/13



Wye Plantation, Easton; Red House (38.85265, 76.16605)

Felling dates: Spring 1813, Spring 1815, and Summer 1815

Brace 1813 (¼C) 1815(22½C); Stud 1815(¼C). Site Master 1602-1814 RED (t = 7.12 PNM; 6.38 LMP; 6.01 PIEDMONT; 5.87 WATCH).

The overseer’s House at Wye House is a frame building of 1½ stories on a brick foundation with chimneys centered at either end of the pitched gable roof. The house incorporates a hall-parlor plan on the first story and two unheated rooms in the garret. The house is often attributed to the 18th century, but only a few hand-wrought nails are evident, in deference to double-struck machine-made nails of a type found from the 1790s to the 1830s, but most often in the first and second decades of the 19th century. Architrave trim from the same period survives on one window on the west elevation, and remnants of three board partitions observed behind the garret kneewalls indicate the original chamber configuration may have been more complicated than the present arrangement.

The overseer’s house has been renovated at least twice, first in the mid-19th century, and again in the late 1950s. The first renovation appears to have stripped the house down to its frame. The chimneys were rebuilt, the siding was replaced, and the extant plaster and lathing dates to this period. The extent of these changes combined with the casual quality of the early foundation and the relatively crude nature of the original second-story partitions suggests this renovation may have been driven by a desire to upgrade rather than simply repair the structure. Wholesale replacement of siding and chimneys for a building that was probably less than 50 years old may indicate that the original dwelling had riven clapboard siding and lightly built chimneys; the interior may have been whitewashed rather than plastered. The new work was fairly refined in quality—the weatherboard siding has beaded edges and a delicate reveal detail, the chimneys are carefully executed with corbelled shoulders and tiled weatherings, and the interior is neatly trimmed and plastered.

Renovations in the late 1950s included construction of a small frame addition to accommodate a bathroom, and installation of a modern kitchen. Flooring was replaced on both stories, the fireplaces were blocked, and some of the exterior siding was replaced.

The date of 1815 derived by dendrochronological sampling of the period I house frame is consistent with the architectural evidence, particularly the dominant use of double-struck machine nails typically found in the early years of the 19th century. The precise date for the mid-19th century renovation remains uncertain, but architectural evidence is consistent with the 1840s and 1850s. The mid-20th century renovation incorporated bathroom fixtures dating to July and December 1956, suggesting the renovation occurred in 1956-57. Miles, D H, and Worthington, M J, 2007 “ The Tree-Ring Dating of the Red House, Wye Plantation, Easton, Talbot County, Maryland”, ODL unpubl rep 2007/1