Hot House: 1925 Greenspring Valley Road, Stevenson, MD 21153

Gothic Revival style church, circa 1905, with three-story crenelated tower and multiple gables, in excellent condition. Two bedrooms, one bath. 3,066 sq. ft. living space with large, unfinished basement. Recent renovations include new roof and gutters, new furnace, back deck and flagstone patio, driveway, stone walkway, exterior Amish-made doors, replacement windows, repointed stones, four-car garage, central a/c. Many original architectural details, Gothic arched windows, stained glass, soaring cathedral ceilings, murals, wood trim. Mature specimen trees and landscaping with country views: $743,160

What: A small church, really more of a chapel, built in 1905 by Philadelphia architects Benjamin and Max Price. Built at a cost of $11,000, the chapel’s founders included some of Greenspring Valley’s most prominent residents — General Felix Agnus, Walter Brooks, Georges Jenkins, Carroll Brown, Somerfield Baldwin and W.B. Brewster — who each contributed $1,000. The congregation declined, the church was decommissioned, and in 2001 it was purchased by Peter Dewolf Smith, the current owner.

The interior has been made habitable, and a pellet stove helps with the heat.  A metal stairway, rumored to be from Peter Angelo’s Skybox, leads up to a large loft bedroom above the former alter where a walk-in dressing area/cedar closet provides storage space. A rose window dominates the room. 

The kitchen has huge Gothic windows, high ceilings and lots of light, but it needs updating. The bathroom is nice. Most of the hard work on the church has been done, the rest will be fun.  Here are some ideas.

Where: The church sits at the corner of Greenspring Valley Road and Stevenson Lane. It is about equidistant from Greenspring Station to the east, and the Reisterstown Road shopping corridor to the west, and about 25 minutes to downtown via I-83 at Falls Road. For many people, one of the highlights of living in Stevenson is picking up their mail (and greeting neighbors) at the little post office in Stevenson Village, less than half a mile away.

Why: Unique and beautiful building and setting. No graveyard.

Why Not: A lot of repurposed material has been used in recent renovations to the church interior — glass brick, old doors, stairs, etc.  Many are individually interesting, but they don’t all work as a whole.

Woud Suit: Interior designer, architect wannabes, adventurers.

NB: Loft bedroom door has no railing. A two-inch misstep leads to a nine-foot drop-off.