4800 Ward’s Chapel Road, Owings Mills, Baltimore County
Hot House: Historic stone house on 20 wooded acres in Owings Mills. Four beds/three baths. Includes pool, stables, stone garden shed. Asking price: $1.2 million
What: I am a sucker for old stone houses like the one where I was raised. This beautiful stone house, the main part of which dates from the 1700s, with 1835 and 2000’s additions, has been sympathetically updated to retain its historic character, which is so important. Nestled into almost 20 acres (19.8, actually), the house is adjacent to the Liberty Reservoir and Soldier’s Delight, which will never be developed.
You arrive from a shaded drive, along the banks of the Chimney Bank Creek to a circular driveway with old-growth trees focusing your view on the old stone house. As you enter the house, you are greeted by historic scenic wallpapers with views of old Baltimore, including the Washington Monument and the Shot Tower, as well as the surrounding countryside. The dining room, with its built-in china closet, also has a scenic tone-on-tone wall covering.
The country kitchen has been renovated with an induction stove, Belfast sink, center island and cozy fireplace. The house has fireplaces in almost every room, as you might expect from a home of this period. One of the most interesting is an original “walk-in” fireplace, with adjoining bread ovens. Also, as you might expect from an old house, most of the bedrooms are not en-suite, with a few bedrooms sharing one bathroom.
The house has been in the same family for more than six decades, but don’t worry about a lack of updates. It has central air, an updated kitchen, wiring and electricals, and a second-floor laundry room. A thoroughly modern house inside an 18th century shell.
The grounds are mostly wooded, except for the acre or so immediately surrounding the house. In addition, there are specimen shade trees and an assortment of decorative plants in the perennial gardens. There is a small barn and an old stone spring house on the property, as well as a pool. A small creek meanders through the property, eventually leading to the Liberty Reservoir.
The two natural resource areas surrounding this property, the serpentine barren Soldier’s Delight, just across the road, and Liberty Reservoir to the west, are both safe from future development as they are owned by the state.
Where: Ward’s Chapel Road is off of Liberty Road in Owings Mills. A short drive to 795 will take you to the Beltway and then anywhere you need to go. The shopping on Reisterstown Road offers everything from Wegmans to Walmart. Just across the Liberty Reservoir is the small town of Eldersburg.
Final Appraisal: This is literally a once-in-a-lifetime chance to buy a house like this. The family who has owned it for decades has taken loving care of it, and the new owners should have the same stewardship over the property. The house is listed as a “contributing property” to the history of Maryland in the state’s cultural resources survey. The listing for the house is here.
