Historic Wilson-Bennett House c.1900

Historic Wilson-Bennett House c.1900
This extraordinary 5-6 bedroom historic masterpiece is beautifully positioned on a 3+ acres corner lot with bordering stream and mature trees. Described by the Maryland Historical Trust, as “one of the larger, and more grand, Queen Anne’s in Howard County”, this unique Victorian home, with much of its historic detailing intact, offers an astute buyer the rare opportunity to complete the restoration of one of Maryland’s most precious treasures. From its turret and charming parlors, to its high ceilings and grand spaces, this vintage beauty captures the essence of life at the turn of the last century. Step into another era as you ascend the magnificent staircase with its hand carved adornments and reflect on early 20th century life in this country home that was built as a retreat for an affluent family wishing to escape the bustle of Baltimore City.
This is a home of rare and beautiful distinction, close to Baltimore & DC, yet a world away.

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE

The Wilson-Bennett House is a 2 ‘/2-story, three-bay by four-bay frame structure with narrow novelty siding with comer boards on most walls and staggered-butt wood shingles on the turret and the gable ends and dormers. The roof has a gable on the front wing and is hipped elsewhere, with a ridge running northwest-southeast, and with a conical roof on the turret; it is all covered with asphalt architectural shingles. The northwest elevation has a projecting wing on the north half, with the turret at the north comer of the house. The windows in the house are one-over-one wood sash with plain head-cut trim. There is a porch that wraps around all four sides of the house, with turned wood posts and curved sawn brackets that have fan-patterned cutouts in them. Part of the southwest side of the porch has been enclosed. On the northeast elevation the east bay is set back from the plane of the other bays by several feet. The east-center bay east comer of the first story is angled, with a door and two-light transom set in this angle.
Maryland Historical Trust

HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE

The Bennett family acquired the 24-acre lot on which the Wilson-Bennett House sits in 1892 for $3,200, and Wesley B. Bennett became a partial owner of the property in that year through inheritance. The Bennett’s sold the property to Elizabeth Wilson of Baltimore in 1894 for $3,600. At that time there was apparently a house on the property, but it burned in 1896. Wilson and the Bennetts were apparently related, though the exact connection is not known at this time, and she lived with Wesley and Mary W. Bennett, or they lived with her, much of the time (and were buried together in St. John’s Cemetery). Wesley Bennett was a coal dealer in Ellicott City, but also acted as a broker, buying and selling real estate for Wilson, and it is not clear whether this property was intended merely as an investment, or as a summer home. In any case, Wilson and the Bennetts sold the property and an additional 28 acres in 1903 for $10,000. The increase in value probably reflects the replacement of the burned dwelling with the existing house. The house they built is a large Queen Anne, with masses that project and recede and are broken up with gables and dormers, a porch that wraps around all four sides, as well as varied materials. These were all picturesque techniques to break away from a static, symmetrical building that dominated the landscape to one that seemed to blend more into the landscape. This is a very good example of the building type and is one of the larger, and more grand, Queen Anne’s in Howard County. Unfortunately, we do not know who was responsible for its design and construction, but the front porch brackets are very similar to those on the Donovan House at 1690 Woodstock Road, and could possibly indicate a common source.
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