HA-1246

Turner-Lipscomb House

Architectural Survey File

This is the architectural survey file for this MIHP record. The survey file is organized reverse-

chronological (that is, with the latest material on top). It contains all MIHP inventory forms, National

Register nomination forms, determinations of eligibility (DOE) forms, and accompanying documentation

such as photographs and maps.

Users should be aware that additional undigitized material about this property may be found in on-site

architectural reports, copies of HABS/HAER or other documentation, drawings, and the “vertical files” at

the MHT Library in Crownsville. The vertical files may include newspaper clippings, field notes, draft

versions of forms and architectural reports, photographs, maps, and drawings. Researchers who need a

thorough understanding of this property should plan to visit the MHT Library as part of their research

project; look at the MHT web site (mht.maryland.gov) for details about how to make an appointment.

All material is property of the Maryland Historical Trust.

Last Updated: 02-18-2004

Turner-Lipscomb House 4325 Norrisville Road Whitehall, Maryland 21161

HA-1246

Owned by the Turner family until 1928, this house was probably built by Eli Turner in the third quarter of the 19th century. The design is an anomaly in Harford Count1: the gable front roof and double-story gallery evoke the image of an antebellum Mississippi plantation. Other grandiose elements include a Palladian window in the front gable and, on the interior, a cramped center hall plan and fake graining on the doors.

Also on the property are several outbuildings including a well house with a walk-in refrigerator and a large frame bank barn.

HA- 1246

MARYLAND HISTORICAL TRUST

INVENTORY FORM FOR STATE HISTORIC SITES SURVEY

6NAME HISTORIC

AND/OR COMMON

Turner-Lipscomb house

llLOCATION. STREET & NUMBER

4325 Norrisville Road CITY. TOWN

Whitehall, STATE

Maryland 21161

DcLASSIFICA TION

CATEGORY

_DISTRICT

hUILDING{S)

_STRUCTURE

_SITE

_OBJECT

OWNERSHIP

_PUBLIC

.::._PR IVA TE

_BOTH

PUBLIC ACQUISITION

_IN PROCESS

_BEING CONSIDERED

DOWNER OF PROPERTY

Vl<;:INITY OF

STATUS ·

~CCU PIED

_UNOCCUPIED

_WORK IN PROGRESS

ACCESSIBLE >s_ YES RESTRICTED

_YES UNRESTRICTED

_NO

NAME Gregory J. Leyko, Rita M. E. Taggart

STREET & NUMBER

4325 Norrisville Road

CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

COUNTY

PRESENT USE

_AGRICULTURE _MUSEUM

_COMMERCIAL _PARK

_EDUCATIONAL ~PRIVATE RESIDENCE

_ENTERTAINMENT _RELIGIOUS

_GOVERNMENT _SCIENTIFIC

_INDUSTRIAL

_MILITARY

Telephone #:

_TRAN SPORT A TION

_OTHER

CITY. TOWN _____________________ S_T_A-TE-, -z~i_p_c_o-.d,.....e __ _

Whitehall, _ VICINITY OF Maryland 21161

llLOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE.

REGISTRY oF DEEDs,ETc Harford County Courthouse STREET & NUMBER

45 s. Main st.. CITY. TOWN

Bel Air,

Liber #: 10'74 Folio #:

2?4

D REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE

DATE

DEPOSITORY FOR

SURVEY RECORDS

CITY. TOWN

_FEDERAL _STATE _COUNTY _LOCAL

STATE

II DESCRIPTION

_EXCELLENT

~OOD _ FAIR

CONDITION

_DETERIORATED

_RUINS

_UNEXPOSED

C.HECK ONE

UNALTERED

NLTERED

CHECK ONE

60RIGINAL SITE

_MOVED DATE __ _

DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

On the north side of Norrisville Road (RTe. 23) just west of the intersection with Troyer Road is located this mid-19th centu.r;y house resembling an antebellum Mississippi plantation house. The two-story house is frame with a gable front roof and double stol"1 front gallery'Xbuilt in two sections. Both set on raised stone foundations, the main or s!>Uth section is three bays wide and one room deep; and the 1.)2..story two bay by one bay north section is flanked on both sides by one story shed-roofed wings. There are two brick chimneys: a central one with a corbelled cap in the main section, and one that has been rebuilt in the north end. Except for the fianking wings, windows have 6/6 sash with architrave trim on the front and fiuted trim with corner blocka on the sides. The cornice of the main section has scrolled brackets. The house is covered in al•inum siding with metal shutters on the front windows.

The front-or south-facade has entrances in the center bays of both stories, flanked by a window on each side. In the gable is a Palladian window. The first story entrance has sidelights and a tripartite transom with a fret design. The porch has square posts with an openwork -cwa-panelled railing. It has been extended OD the west into a concrete terrace.

The west side is blank except for an entrance in the first story.

The north end has a pyramidal arrangement of windows framing the roonine of the north section.

The east side has two windows ll1 each story including the basement.

The north section has one 6/6 sash window in the first stol"1 north end and, in the second story of both sides, two 3/3 sash windows.

!·

The fenestration of both wines is recent•·-"The main section has a center hall plan; the rear section contains one room with a pantry in the west wing. The latter has narrow beaded trim; the former has fiuted trim with corner blocks and six panel doors with fake graining.

Both main rooms have fireplaces in the interior walls. The mantels have shelves with ogee cornices and pilasters flanking the opening. Both t)le trim with corner roundels and mantel in the east roan are more elaborate than those in the west roaa.

The center hall consists of a foyer and central enclosed staircase set off by pilasters. The stairs have a plain rounded rail with chamfered newel posts capped by. round balls with beading arol.Uld the circtmference.

The basement has log joists (still with bark on them) and a fireplace in the west room. The second floor has two rooms on the west and one on the east. The trim is nuted and there are four-panel doors. The batten door to the room in the north sect:L..-J has fake graining.

SEE CONTINUATION SHE ~ #I

CONTINUE ON SEPARATE SHEET IF NECESSARY

II SIGNIFICANCE

PERIOD AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW _PREHISTORIC

_1400-1499

_1500-1599

_1600-1699

1700-1799

~800-1899 _1900-

__ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC

--ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC

__AGRICULTUR~

..&RCHITECTURE

__ART

_COMMERCE

_COMMUNICATIONS

SPECIFIC DATES

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

_COMMUNITY PLANNING

_CONSERVATION

-ECONOMICS

-EDUCATION

_ENGINEERING

_EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT

_INDUSTRY

_INVENTION

_LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

-LAW

_LITE RA TU RE

_MILITARY

-MUSIC

_PHILOSOPHY

_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT

BUILDER/ ARCH ITEC.T

_RELIGION

_SCIENCE

_SCULPTURE

_SOCIAUHUMANITARIAN

_THEATER

_TRANSPORTATION

_OTHER !SPECIFY)

Probably built sometime in the third quarter of tie 19th century, this property remained in the hands of the Turner family until 1928. The house was probably built by Eli Turner, who may have be~ a negro according to one deed. When he died in 189'+, it was devised to Frank Turn.er.

In 1928, Frank Turner's widow sold the house and 90.5 acres to Arthur :r. Martin. It then passed thro.i gh a rapid succession of owners until in 1936 the lot was halved, and the 37 acre section on the north side of Norrisville Road whereon this house is situated vas sold separately.3 No one retained ovnershi~ of the lot for more than two -~a.rs until it was purchased by Roy w. Lipscomb in 1944; it remained in the Lipscomb ~dlllily until 1978.

The house,.iA an anomaly in the area: the gable front roof and pedimented double­story gallery 'f6..c.reminiscent of the antebellum Mississippi plantations. The fake wood graining on the interior doors and simplified center hall plan also suggest the builder's grand ambitions on a mall budget.

___ l DGW 208/156

2 Will Records JMM 11/384

3 swc 242/239

4 GCB 282/153

Footnotes

CONTINUE ON SEPARATE SHEET IF NECESSARY

IJMAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES

Land and Will records of Harford County 1858 Jenning and Herrick's Map 1878 Martenet' s Map

CONTINUE ON SE~AR.ATE SHEET IF NECESS~Y

ll!JGEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY--------

VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STA=rE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE COUNTY

STATE COUNTY

mFORM PREPARED BY NAME I TITLE

Natalie Shivers, Historic Sites Surveyor ORGANIZATION DATE

Harford County Historic District CoaDission June, 1979 STREET & NUMBER TELEPHONE

45 s. Main Street 301-879-2000 Ext. 'N'/ CITY OR TOWN STATE

Bel Air, Maryland 21014

The Maryland Historic Sites Inventory was officially created by an Act of the Maryland Legislature, to be found in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Article 41, Section 181 KA, 1974 Supplement.

The Survey and Inventory are being prepared for information and record purposes only and do not constitute any infringe­ment of individual property rights.

RETURN TO: Maryland Historical Trust The Shaw House, 21 State Circle Annapolis, Maryland 21401 ( 301) 267-1438

PS· I 108

2

Turner-Lipscomb house Description (Cont'd.)

The attic has plastered walls with sporadic relief designs. The rafters are fUll logs with bark on them and are butted together.

Also on the property are a well house with a walk-in refrigerator west of the house and a smokehouse and an outhouse north of the house. Further west is a frame bank barn covered in German siding. It has hand-hewn beams and posts and its rafters are logs fastened to a ridge pole.

r

~J.i~'Purner houae

'3RG

GCa

swc

S'·/C

S\tlC

swc

c;wc

s· ·c

'4ortg~ge DG'~

1055/531

4RL /L74

?8:?/153

230/45

''ill TJpcorda ,Tl't' 11 /-z~li

H4- i2-"t~

Soptemb~r 11, 19?~

February 27, 1978

July 8, 1957

~ebrun.ry 29, 1944

November ~ . 1937

July :> , 1936

Auguet 0, 1931+

February l~ , 1934

Mny 19, 1932

Mny 19, 1932

t·"'Y 8, 1928

April =>2 , 19'.)~

Grn.ntar : Grantee : Acr 0 i:i.e:;e:

fir'.llltor:

Oonald Y. Blttke & Ruth F. . Blake r- • • T. Loyko 9~ R. ""'.: . "'age;art '5 . '4 acres

William n . Hahn & Ilozel 3~ttes :::-cprese!lting estste of Marie H. Lipscomb

Grant"e: Donr1ld V. Blake F( Rut h E. Blake

Grnntor: Grnntee: Acre:-ige :

Gran tor : '1rmtee: Acreage:

Gr'lr.tor : Gr"\ntee : Acre11.ge:

Granter: Grantee : Acre~ge:

Gran tor : nrruitee : l\creage :

'fal tPr P. I.ipscomb &~'Louise H. Lipscomb Marie !!. Lipscomb 37 Acres

'I . '";. '1ood 9, H. L. 'lood ~ . '1 . Lipscooib R- F . A. Lipscomb 37 Acres

Clarence D. Grant & Hary E. <irmt E. 'food & M. r... . '!ood

37 Acres

c. H. t'i 11 er Ee Mattie 'ill,.r c. D. ,, ..

'"'r(.u'"' & .. ~ Grant • I • .. 37 Acres

Anne Hartin p_, FrarJ<: Martin c. H. 1''.iller & Mattie Killer 90.5 Acres

Grantor: Betty Mahan GrantPe : Annie Martin Acrenee : 90. 5 Acres

Grantor : Stewart O. Day, Trustee Grantee : Frank Martin Acreage: 90.5 Acres

Gr antor : Fr~mk Hartin Grantee : Robert ::.1 . McGraw, Zula ~~cGraw ,

':illiam F. Mccafferty Acreage : 90 .5 Acres Nort gae;e : $9250 held by °Fr'lnk Mc-i.rtin

Grantor: Grantee : A.cre"lge :

";rMtor: "ir1.ntee : Acre~ee :

Arthur F. Martin & Maye Martin Robert R. l·~cGraw & Wm. F . Mccafferty 90 .5 Acres

Hary '"':. Rope ':'urner , wioow Arthur k'. M rti."l 90.5 Acres

''ortg1;1gee :Dr . 'li'rank T. Turner P,. 11nry E . Turner f.um: 1>3000 l!ortg"lge Devisor: 31.i Turner nevi see: ~r3nk Turner

:>TATES JF THE ARMY NGINEERS

~A-l24"

n w+

PHOENIX QUADRANGLE MARYLAND

7.5 MINUTE SERIES (TOPOGRAPHIC) SE 4 , A:1KTON ts OUAufMNCLt.

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Turner- Lipscomb house near ?!udonna, Md. Natalie Shivers May, 1979 Southwest

Turner-Lipscomb house n car ? :ad onnn. , Md • Natalie Shivers l·~y, 1979 Northeast