Wednesday, December 22, 2021

119 Taplow Road - A True Gem

I am pretty sure I've mentioned that I grew up in an old stone house in Roland Park, one of the only all-stone ones in the neighborhood. But if you go over to Homeland or Guilford, there are many more stone houses. 

The house at 119 Taplow Road is one of those all-stone houses, and of course, it was designed by Palmer & Lamdin.

I happened to take a picture of 119 Taplow the other night as I was driving through Homeland looking at Christmas decorations. It is so completely charming, with its picket fence in the front, and the wreaths in the windows. 

When I started looking into the house, I checked the University of Baltimore's archives catalogue to see if they had anything, and they did - a pretty full set of plans and elevations for the house. Click here to view them. 
This is an interesting house because at first glance, it appears to be symmetrical, but after you study it for a few minutes, you realize that it's not! 
The plans were filed on October 19, 1927 and the client was Guy T.O. Hollyday, a proponent of urban housing renewal, and a man always involved in the real estate business. (click his name for his wiki-bio) The plans aren't in great shape and I had to do a lot of photoshopping them to make them readable. This is the south elevation, or the back of the house. 

The house hasn't been sold since since 1988, so there are no interior images of, but I would bet it's amazing.

2 comments:

  1. Such a lovely place with the stonework giving a visual delight with texture. A bold announcement of economic success without being too loud. If it was mine I don't think I could run outside fast enough to burn down the horrid picket fence. If this home was located on a 25+ acre parcel on the Eastern Shore, it would be a key landmark.

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  2. Funniky, the fence is on the original drawings!

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