Hot House: 2705 Greenspring Valley Road, Stevenson, MD 21117

Open House: Wednesday, April 11, 12-2PM

One-story stone schoolhouse, circa 1930, with slate roof. Converted in 1984 to three bed, two and a half bath, 3,000 sq. ft. home in excellent condition. Thirteen- foot ceilings, original Georgia pine floors, large windows. Entrance hall connects front and back doors. Arched doorways, fan lights, original schoolhouse drinking fountain.  Updated country kitchen opens to large living-dining area with stone fireplace. En-suite master on ground level, updated bath, glass shower. Large stone patio and gazebo. German Viessmann five-zone boiler, new heat pump, and a/c. Full attic, partial unfinished basement. Private 3.3-acre property with stream set back from road on private drive: $765,000

What: Originally the Chatolanee Colored School, this schoolhouse was built in 1930 to serve a large local African American community, many of whom were former slaves. After the Civil War, they stayed on to work at the Chatolanee Hotel, a large and fashionable watering hole for wealthy Baltimoreans who came to escape the heat and drink the pure waters of the nearby spring. The hotel closed in 1913 and burned down ten years later. In 1984, Bev Compton, who lived on an adjoining property, purchased and restored the schoolhouse together with architect Peter Doo of Towson. In an unusually successful conversion, the house is divided by the entrance hall, with living areas on one side and bedrooms on the other. Light shines through big windows,  it’s warm and inviting, and you feel the history in every room.

Where: 2705 is at the corner of Greenspring Valley Road and Spring Hill Road. It is hidden down a long driveway which goes over a wooden bridge. Under the bridge flows a stream, a headwater of the Jones Falls and a “designated wild brown trout stream.” Bev Compton operated a fish hatchery here for many years which supplied local waterways with brown trout. The house is a few hundred yards from the golf course of the Greenspring Valley Hunt Club. It is about two miles from Stevenson Village shopping center and a mile to Reisterstown Road. Baltimore County public schools.

Why: Great history,  “designated brown trout stream.”

Why Not: Hated school.

Would Suit: Lifetime learners, fly fishermen.

NB: In addition to the trout stream, the property has an impressive grove of bald cypress and dawn redwood trees with a fascinating history.