Medical Hall, a Harford County historic landmark, was built about 1800 as the residence of a famous physician and educator, and more than 200 years later, it remains close to its beginnings - the property is the secluded private residence of a respected doctor and teacher who is prominent on the national scene today.
Dr. John Archer built the house at the end of the 18th century, and Dr. Albert Owens Jr., of the medical faculty of the Johns Hopkins University, became its owner in 1986.
It is a house worthy of a distinguished owner.
The real estate listing for Medical Hall in the Dec. 1, 1940, issue of The Sun described the estate as: "A Colonial stone house, 10 rooms (six bedrooms), several fireplaces, large trees, old-fashioned estate gate; stone slave quarters, stone spring house, stable, etc. Excellent land, streams. Price, $15,000."
The Medical Hall Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug. 28, 1973.
The National Register describes the house west of Churchville on Route 154 as a Federal-style mansion dating to about 1800.
In Colonial and Historic Homes of Maryland, published in 1975, Don Swann Jr. writes: "The mansion is 2 1/2 stories high with dormer windows, and is made to seem much taller because of a high basement and the steps leading up to the four columns of the pedimented porch. This house has many architectural features in common with De La Brooke in St. Mary's County. The foundations are of stone. The brick building is covered with stucco, with a slate roof and a large brick chimney at either end."
The Maryland Historical Trust inventory says, "Immediately south of the house is a stone springhouse which 20th century owners have converted into a pumphouse.
"East of the house is a stone cottage believed to be a 19th century tenant house. ...
"South of the house stand a smokehouse, a springhouse and a dwelling. The substantial character of their fabric and the 18th century style appearance lend currency to the belief that these structures consisted of the nucleus of the original farm complex.
"The springhouse was constructed of stone and sits low to the ground under its gable roof. The smokehouse is similarly a stone building but is a full story and a half."
The trust inventory also comments on the property's historical value: "In addition to the 19th and possibly late 18th century structures, Medical Hall contains three important archaeological sites. Of primary importance is the site of Dr. John Archer's office and medical school. An 1860 landscape painting of the house has substantiated the assertion that ruins south of Medical Hall are the office. The dimensions of the ruins match those given in an 1814 federal tax assessment. To the north of the house on a rise of ground is the probable site of Dr. Archer's first house, which he abandoned in 1777 because of recurring nightmares."
Swann elaborates on this last item: "It is related that Dr. Archer built the house as a result of a dream in which he saw his mother's home demolished by fire. So stirred was he that he immediately undertook the construction of Medical Hall, close by, and moved in as soon as it was finished." According to Our Harford Heritage by C. Milton Wright, published in 1967, "The present Medical Hall was built by [Dr. Archer] in 1800 on the site of the one-story house in which he was born."
The house remained in the hands of the Archer family for generations, and John Archer's descendants added their own touches to its history, including one of the most famous elements of the house: its wallpaper, depicting scenes from the French Revolution.
In An Architectural History of Harford County, Maryland, Christopher Weeks writes the Archer's son Stevenson Archer "was elected to the state legislature (1809-1810) and U.S. Congress (1811-1817), and he marked Lafayette's triumphal 1824 return to America - and perhaps commemorated his father's own revolutionary activities - by decking Medical Hall out with French scenic wallpaper, replete with vignettes of the storming of the Bastille."
Nancy Davis, director at the Maryland Historical Society museum, said that about five years of ago Owens - who was redoing a part of the home- contacted her and offered her a chance to preserve Medical Hall's French Revolution wallpaper.
"I thought it was a shame to let it go," she said. Curators were allowed to collect a piece of the expensive wallpaper.
After John Archer's death in 1810, Stevenson Archer inherited the estate. Medical Hall continued to be occupied by several generations of Archers, until sisters Anne and Dorothy Hall purchased it in 1941.
When the Hall sisters died, they left the house to David Boyle, who worked on the grounds. He left the house to his daughter Peggy, said Steve Hart, current owner of a smaller stone house on the Medical Hall grounds.
Steve and Teresa Hart purchased the stone house across the street from Medical Hall from Peggy Boyle last year.
"It is in need of a full restoration," Hart said, adding that he is up for the challenge. "I had to clean up the trash, I had to remove nine truckloads of beer cans," he said.
Although the smaller house was not in good condition, Hart said, its shell was intact. The Harts looked into renovation and learned about the historical significance of the property.
As a result of his research, Hart believes that his house was the birthplace of John Archer. Hart's house is built of stone and divided into two sections. Inside the house, there is a kitchen, a sitting room and two bedrooms. A couple of years ago there was a fire in part of the house and some of the wood inside the house was damaged.
