Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Historic or Just another Old House

Another new subdivision has sprouted on College Avenue just up the hill from downtown Ellicott City. The subdivision, dubbed Maple Cliffe, consists of 21 homesites surrounding a home built in 1912 and commonly referred to as the Hogg home. The builders’ property brochure identifies the home as an “existing historic home.” When I visited the onsite sales trailer I was told by the sales agent that the home is a “registered historic property.”

That is not quite true. According to the folks at the Howard County Historical Society, the Hogg home is an interesting old home but it is not on the Maryland Historical Trust registry or on the National Register of Historic Properties. In the context of historic Ellicott City, 1912 just isn’t that old.

Still, it is an interesting old house. According to an article from the Sun dated May 1, 2005, the developer of the Hogg property told the Howard County Planning Board that “each home would be custom-designed and would reflect the architecture of the historic house.”
This is what Dorsey Family Homes has built so far in the development. Does it “reflect the architecture of the historic house?”

I dunno about that, your call.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

At first those houses looked nothing alike, but after 6 beers I see the similarity. Yea old timey houses!

Anonymous said...

Looks like another cookie cutter development home to me