Hot House: 2017 Western Run Road, Cockeysville, MD 21030
Historic stone farmhouse with slate roof, circa 1807, completely renovated, with 2007 expansion. Five bedrooms, 7 baths, 4,640 sq. ft. over three stories. Living room, library, formal dining room, updated kitchen, family room with views. Large master bedroom suite with two bathrooms and dressing room. Lower level family room with walk out patio,wet bar. Four fireplaces. Zoned heat, central a/c. Partially finished basement, carport, historic farm structures, bank barn, fenced paddock, 4-stall horse barn. Ninety-seven acres on Black Rock and Western Run. Includes 3-acre building lot: $2,985,000 (recent $465,000 price reduction)
What: A piece of history, a fine house immaculately maintained, and one of the larger land parcels for sale in this fabled part of Maryland horse country (Spring Garden Farm was once the assembly point for the Green Spring Valley Hunt). George Ensor, a native of Germany who fought in the American Revolution, bought this land in 1796 as part of a 400-acre parcel. His son George built the house in 1807, a date etched in a stone set high in the north wall. Ensors lived here continuously, running a large dairy farm until 1941 when the property was sold to Robert E. Lewis. Lewis’s son, Robert E. Lewis, Jr., became a prominent Baltimore architect, and when he died in 1996, the property passed to his sons, who are now selling the house. Local historians describe it as “the substantial house of a practical farmer,” and there is some of that workmanlike feeling still. Built in native fieldstone, the house has three bays, with a covered front porch and a south-facing back side that floods the house with light. Inside, it’s a center hall colonial with Georgian pine floors, nice big rooms, and a lovely family room addition on the back. There’s also a bedroom on the main floor. Master bedroom has French doors that lead onto a balcony with views over sunlit fields, also two modern bathrooms and a big dressing room. Move right in.
Where: The Western Run Valley is a small, intimate valley where buffalo once roamed, and Quakers first settled. It feels more bucolic than the Greenspring Valley, it’s out a little further north, and still has some of the working farms that lend it a sleepy rural aspect. But the nearest shopping is not really far — there’s the Wegmans at the Hunt Valley Mall just 5 miles away and the Butler farm stand even closer. Sparks Elementary and Hereford Middle and High Schools get a 10 out of 10 on the public schools ratings. Number 2017 is on the south side of Western Run Road.
Would Suit: People who want to live and raise their kids on a farm. (see Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, and more.)
Why: House has a calm, Quaker-like feel. Luxurious but not grandiose — and everything, including the outbuildings, is ship shape.
Why Not: You are completely car dependent out here. Also, no pool.
NB: Spoiler alert — realtor says there is a three-acre building lot and “additional possible subdivision.” Should someone call the Baltimore County Council?
