M:23-17 Edgehill Montgomery County, MD Set upon 282 acres of land off of Griffith Road, east of Laytonsville, in Montgomery County, Maryland, Edgehill Farm is a rare surviving example of an intact and cohesive complex of domestic and agricultural buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. The property includes the Edgehill farmhouse, built in three distinct phases from the late 18th to mid-19th centuries, several historic outbuildings, including a log slave quarters, log smokehouse, and a frame chicken house, all from the 19th century; a 19th-century drive-thru corn crib, a bank barn rebuilt in 1933, and a 20th-century dairy building. In addition, there are three cemeteries on the property. Edgehill was originally built by Henry Griffith II, one of the largest landowners in Montgomery County, on land inherited from his father, the Honorable Henry Griffith. Henry Griffith is well known as a Maryland leader in the American Revolution, having been appointed to carry the Resolves of the American Congress and of the Provincial Convention, into execution. The Edgehill property, still owned by descendants of the original Griffith family, provides an historical link to one of the founding families in the county. Edgehill meets Criteria A and C of the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties and of the National Register of Historic Places. MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST Inventory No. M-23-17 MD INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES =================================================================== 1. Name of Property =================================================================== historic name =E~d:a-e=h=i~l._l=--------------------------­ common/ other name =================================================================== 2. Location =================================================================== street & number 4920 Griffith Road Not for publication city or town Gaithersburg state Maryland code MD vicinity~ county Montgomery code zip code 20882 =================================================================== 3. State/Federal Agency Certification N/A =================================================================== =================================================================== 4. National Park Service Certification N/A =================================================================== 5. Classification =================================================================== Ownership of Property (Check all that apply) _X_ private public-local public-State public-Federal Category of Property (Check only one box) building(s) ~x~ district __x_ site __X _ structure object Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing buildings ~4~ sites ~3~ _2__ structures objects Total ~9~ Is this property listed in the National Register? Yes Name of Listing No __~ X~--- I ~ Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Inventory No. M-23-17 Edgehill Page 2 Montgomery County, Maryland ================================================================== =================================================================== 6. Function or Use =================================================================== Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) Cat: DOMESTIC Sub: Single Dwelling; Slave Quarters: Smokehouse AGRICULTURE/SUBSISTENCE Bank barn: corn crib; Chicken coop: FUNERARY Cemetery Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) Cat: DOMESTIC Sub: Single Dwelling Other =S~t~o~r~a=g~e---------~ =================================================================== 7. Description ================================================================= Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) Other: Vernacular Greek Revival Materials (Enter categories from instructions) foundation =S~t~o=n=e~--------------­ roof Asphalt shingles walls Wood weatherboard other Narrative Description (Describe the historic and current condition of the property.) See Continuation Sheet No. 7-1 Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Inventory No. M-23-17 Edgehill Page 3 Montgomery County, Maryland ================================================================== =================================================================== 8. Statement of Significance =================================================================== Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing) __X _ A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. __x_ c Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield information important in prehistory or history. Criteria Considerations (Mark "X" in all the boxes that apply.) A owned by a religious institution or used for religious purposes. B removed from its original location. C a birthplace or a grave. D a cemetery. E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. F a commemorative property. G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years. Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Inventory No. M-23-17 Edgehill Page 4 Montgomery County, Maryland ================================================================== ================================================================= Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) Architecture Period of Significance =1~7~8~0~--=1=8~4~1~~~~~~~~~~~~ Significant Dates circa 1780 1841 Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) Cultural Affiliation Architect/Builder Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property.) See Continuation Sheet No. 8-1 Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Inventory No. M-23-17 Edgehill Page 5 Montgomery County, Maryland ================================================================== =================================================================== 9. Major Bibliographical References =================================================================== (Cite the books, articles, legal records, and other sources used in preparing this form.) Allen G. Noble and Richard K. Cleek, The Old Barn Book: A Field Guide to North American Barns and other Farm Structures. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1995. Annals of Sandy Spring, Vols. I-V, Sandy Spring, MD.: Privately Printed. Barrow, Healan. 11Two centuries, and More, of Living: Edgehill to be Featured on House Tour." Courier-Gazette. December 7, 1988. Boyd, T. H. S . , History of Montgomery County, 18 7 9 . Reprint. Baltimore, MD: Clearfield Comp., 1989. Coleman, Margaret Marshall and Anne Dennis Lewis. Montgomery County: A Pictorial History. Norfolk, VA: The Donning Company. 1984. Demma, Lola. 11Sisters take Farm into Third Century." Montgomery Journal. June 1, 1988. Demma, Lola~ 11Sisters Plow Ahead on 200-year-old Farm." Life Journal. June 29, 1988. Farquhar, Roger Brooke. Old Homes and History of Montgomery County, MD. Silver Spring, MD., 1952, 1962. Hopper, Dale. 11Humble Homes of Slaves are Endangered." Washington Post. August 5, 1993. Montgomery County Historical Society, Rockville, MD. , Vertical Files. Montgomery County Historical Society Newsletter, July 1988. Montgomery County Land Records, Montgomery County, Maryland. Sandy Spring Museum, Biography Files, Photographic Files, and House Files, Sandy Spring, Maryland. Genealogical Abstracts, Montgomery County Sentinel 1855-1899. Walston, Mark. "A Survey of Slave Housing in Montgomery County." Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Inventory No. M-23-17 Edgehill Page 6 Montgomery County, Maryland ================================================================== The Montgomery County Story. Vol.27 No. 3, August 1984. Wilcox, Vestus J. County Courier Obituaries Section. September 21, 1977. Maps and Drawings and Photographs Hopkins, G.M., Atlas of Fifteen Miles around Washington, including the County of Montgomery, Maryland, 1879. Simon L. Martenet, Martenet and Bond's Map of Montgomery County, 1865. Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Inventory No. M-23-17 Edgehill Page 7 Montgomery County, Maryland ================================================================== =================================================================== 10. Geographical Data =================================================================== Acreage of Property_....2.....,8... .. _______ 2=-=a~c=r=-e=s Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property.) Edgehill Farm occupies Parcel 600 on Montgomery County Tax Map HV. Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected.) This parcel has been associated with Edgehill since the mid-18th century. =================================================================== 11. Form Prepared By name/title Kim Williams & Michele Naru. Architectural Historians organization.~M~-~N~C~P=P~C~-----------~ date April 28. 1999 street & number 8787 Geor9ia Avenue telephone 301/563-3403 city or town Silver Sprin9 state --1:1IL zip code 20910 =================================================================== 12. Property Owner =================================================================== name Janet and John Becker street & number 4920 Griffith Road telephone (301) 253-2688 city or town Gaithersbur9 state MD zip code 20833 =================================================================== MARYLAND INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES CONTINUATION SHEET Inventory No. M-23-17 Section 7 Page _1_ =E=d..,.g,_,,e=.h... .. 1~1=---------­ 1=--'· name of property Montgomery County. MD county and state Set upon 282 acres of land off of Griffith Road, east of Laytonsville, in Montgomery County, Maryland, Edgehill Farm is a rare surviving example of an intact and cohesive complex of domestic and agricultural buildings from the 18th and 19th centuries. The property includes the Edgehill farmhouse, built in three distinct phases from the late 18th to mid-19th centuries; several domestic outbuildings, including a log slave quarters, log smokehouse, and a frame chicken house; all from the 19th century; a 19th-century corn crib, a bank barn rebuilt in 1933, and a 20th century dairy building. In addition, there are three cemeteries on the property. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The Edgehill Farmhouse is a telescope-type house that consists of three distinct parts. The oldest section of the house, built circa 1780, is the center section--a two-story, frame, room-over-room dwelling clad with weatherboard siding. It is set upon a low stone foundation, is covered with a gable roof with a brick chimney, and measures approximately 16' x 20'. A shed porch extends across the full width of the front elevation. Abutting the south end of this original building is the kitchen, originally constructed as a one-story, detached frame structure, and sharing the chimney of the house. The kitchen appears to have been built at the same time as the original house, but was raised to two stories and attached to the house by a one-bay frame hyphen, around the mid-19th century.1 The detached kitchen and hyphen were unified by a continuous gable roof and cornice and weatherboard walls. The third section of the house is the main block of the dwelling today. Built in 1841 and abutting the north end of the original frame structure, it is a two-story, three-bay, side-passage frame dwelling designed in a Greek Revival style. It is set upon a raised stone foundation and covered with a gable roof, featuring a boxed wood cornice and pair of inside end chimneys. The walls are clad with a distinctive narrow weatherboard. The house retains a high degree of original features and provides, especially on the interior, a lesson in vernacular Greek Revival detailing. 1 Family tradition holds that the kitchen was raised to two stories in circa 1870. This is based upon the memory of the current owner's grandmother, who recalled her father doing the work. However, architectural evidence, including a common rafter roof joined with wooden pegs, beaded trim and batten doors indicates a first half-19th century date of construction. MARYLAND INVENTORY OF HISTORIC PROPERTIES CONTINUATION SHEET Inventory No. M-23-17 Sect ion 7 Page _2_ .E..= d~g;µe...,h.........,_i_,.,l""l~--------­ name of property Montgomery County. MD county and state ================================================================== Exterior Description: The east elevation of the house includes the east elevation of all three parts. The' central and oldest section of the house serves as the principal entrance of the dwelling today. Behind the shed porch, this elevation features, on the first story, a single 6- paneled wood door on center, and a flanking 6/6 window. The second story has a single, central 6/6 window. A narrow vertical wood board at the south end of the original dwelling covers the seam where the dwelling and the kitchen and its hyphen meet. A seam at this point is also visible on the boxed wood cornice at the roofline. The kitchen wing has a single 6/6 window on center of both the first and second stories. The main block of 1841 includes, on the first story, a side-passage entry door and its porch, and two single 6/6 windows. The second story has three equally placed 6/6 windows. The side entry is clearly identified by a bold, Greek Revival porch. This porch, raised upon stone piers features paired wood posts supporting a wide entablature and flat roof. The entablature consists of a denticulated architrave and a wide frieze above. Although much of this porch has been repaired and replaced with new materials, the original dimensions and proportions appear true to the period. Behind the porch is the entry defined by a pair of two-paneled doors with a four-light transom. All of the 6/6 windows on this elevation have narrow wood trim with an interior bead, and original louvered shutters. The north elevation of the house consists of the north end wall of the 1841 house. This wall is unfenestrated save for 6/6 windows on the inside bays of the paired chimneys. A gable-roofed frame shed on center of the elevation provides access to the bulkhead entry to the cellar. The brick chimneys, which rise above the gable roofline, have been rebuilt with new brick in a stretcher bond. The west (rear) elevation of the house includes the west walls of all three parts. The original section and its attached kitchen both have one-story, shed-roof wings (present-day kitchen) extending across the entire wall. These sheds have banks of 6/6 windows and, at the south end, an open porch leading into the current kitchen. The only opening on the second story of these structures is a 6/6 window located on center of the original (central section) house. The west elevation of the 1841 Greek Revival house is more formal than its earlier counterparts. It is divided into three bays, with a 6-paneled door on the south end and two single 6/6 windows on the first story. The second story includes three, single 6/6 windows, with the window in the south end corresponding to the side-stair landing, set lower than the other two. All of these windows have the same narrow wood trim