When Craig Phillips moved to Maryland three years ago, he wanted something different. And did he ever get it.
Recently divorced and being relocated by his employer, U.S. Foodservice, from Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to the Baltimore area, Phillips had been accustomed to a large modern home with soaring ceilings and big windows.
But now, starting over, Phillips said he was "looking for a change for my new life."
What he found was something on the other end of the housing spectrum: a small, 200-year-old stone home nestled in a wooded hillside in Ellicott City. Unlike the modern masterpiece he left behind in Wilkes-Barre, this home had thick walls, smaller windows, and it oozed with a history that gave him the feeling of a quieter and simpler time. "Warm, cozy and solid" were his adjectives for the home.
Today, Phillips shares the home with Nicki Allen, his "significant other." Her 19-year-old daughter, Kathryn, lives with the couple part of the time.
The home's architecture was also a drastic change for Allen, who grew up in the Southwest. "This is nothing like I have ever seen. There is nothing this old in Texas," she said.
An avid antique collector, Phillips wanted an older home that would complement his tastes in decor. Since he's frequently on the road, he wanted a home close to Interstate 95, but far enough away that he felt secluded. The Ellicott City home was the first place his real estate agent showed him.
"I loved it instantly, and I knew I just had to have it," Phillips said, but he passed on the home. "They tell you never to buy the first house you see," Phillips said, so he kept looking.
But nothing seemed right, so Phillips went back to the first home he fell in love with. By then another buyer was interested in the home.
Phillips was able to get the home by offering the full asking price of $185,000 with no contingencies. "I really wanted it," he said.
What made the home unique, Phillips said, was that though the home was 200 years old on the outside, it had been updated on the inside. "I don't have to worry about [redoing] the plumbing or electricity," Phillips said. "It's the best of both worlds."
When the previous owner bought the building -- five years before Phillips moved in -- all that remained was the foundation and the stone walls.
Using old photos, the previous owner reconstructed the home so that it looked similar to its original appearance. The interior is new except for one stone wall that divides the living room and galley kitchen. Near the bottom of the wall is a small archway and keystone indicating that the home was once three stories but has been converted to two floors.
Phillips was intrigued by the home's two centuries of history.
"George Washington may have not slept here, but I'm told he might have stored munitions here," he said.
The house was a gristmill until 1929 when it was converted to a pumping station for what was then St. Mary's College. Water was diverted from nearby Bonnie Branch Creek, up the hill to the college. Part of the pump remains in Phillips' home.
"It's under the house. The pump is the size of a Volkswagen," Phillips said.
Allen and Phillips affectionately call the pump room under the house "the pit." To get to it, the couple must climb down a ladder leading from a trapdoor in the floor of the first-floor powder room. "It's pretty yucky down there," Allen said.
The house next to Phillips' home used to be a stable and a blacksmith's shop once stood next to the stable.
Reminders of the home's past are everywhere. "Whenever I'm digging in the garden I find plenty of nails," Allen said. "There's definitely a lot of history here."
Allen said she was not much of a gardener until she moved in. "I haven't done a lot of gardening in my life. This house inspired me," she said.
Phillips wanted something to truly reflect the building's long and interesting life. Driving along a country road in Pennsylvania, he spotted a large, round grinding stone, similar to what one might find in an old mill. It would be perfect for a coffee table, Phillips thought.
"It was there leaning against a tree with a `for sale' sign on it. Talk about serendipity," he said. Phillips paid $200 for the stone and rented a truck to get it home. "But I needed a base to put the stone on," he said.
Luck happened upon Phillips a second time.
"I was in Allentown and came across an auction of gristmill parts," Phillips said. Although Phillips has been attending antique auctions for years, he had never heard of someone selling just gristmill parts. Phillips bought a wooden piece called a cradle to serve as the base for his coffee table with a few other parts that are displayed in his living room.
Getting the coffee table into the house wasn't easy. "It must have weighed 500 pounds," he said. "It took four guys to bring it in."
The table sits in a place of honor in the center of the living room. "It goes great with the house," Phillips said.
And it looks great where it is, too. It has to. "There's no way I can move it now," Phillips said.
