Respecting The Past By Rebuilding The Present

Meticulous Restoration Of Darlington House Brings Historic Touches To Life

Two years ago, Jeff Little decided he had enough of the sheep and goats and big barns on his farm in Churchville, Harford County.

"I agreed with him," said his wife, Kim Little. "I told him to find me an old stone house in Darlington."

And so Jeff Little did an Internet search and found Kaziah's Diary. The three-story stone colonial was certainly in scenic Darlington and certainly old, dating to 1810. However, it was also obscured from the road by thick overgrowth and was, quite decidedly, in need of a total top-to-bottom restoration.

"When I walked in and saw the fireplace in the kitchen, I fell in love with the house," Kim Little recalled. "I could see it completely finished."

The home, which would become a half-million dollar investment when all was said and done, was built in three sections with an incorporated smoke house and slave quarters in the rear of the structure. All four of its chimneys needed to be rebuilt, a new roof of standing seam metal was constructed, all of the interior electric and plumbing had to be replaced as well as a new heating system using radiators on the first floor and 4-zone baseboard heating everywhere else.

The meticulous restoration of the home's 15 rooms followed; as well as the addition of a breezeway, garage and two outbuildings used for storage.

Kim Little was undaunted in her determination to have as near perfect a finished product as her talents and vast collection of period furniture would allow. The rooms today, while completely comfortable and functional, are of museum quality.

Her handmade draperies hang at windows of original glass set into walls 18" to 24" thick. All of the flooring is original to the house - ark lumber on the first floor and random-width pine on the second and third floors. Samplers dating to the early 19th century hang on re-plastered and stenciled walls. A request of the prior owner for one piece of furniture already in the home resulted in Kim Little's acquisition of a colonial pine table that she was able to embellish with her own set of bird cage Windsor chairs manufactured by Joseph Burden of Philadelphia.

The dining room, with its original beamed ceiling, features a huge hearth and an oak table, 8 feet by 3 feet. Cabinets display goblets and plates of pewter set among woven baskets, dried flowers and candles.

"The earthenware makes your heart stop [and] the decorating gets in your blood," Kim Little said.

And standing in her outdoor, colonial-style, circular brick garden she added,

"We can see this house as a place to grow old in."

Making a dream home

Dream element:: Kim And Jeff Little's authentic colonial sits on 2.5 acres of land in an open, rural area of Harford County.

Design inspiration:: The stone house, built in 1810, naturally dictates both an exterior and interior decor from the Colonial "American Fancy" period dating from 1800-1830. All of Kim Little's furnishings, from earthenware pottery to embroidered bed curtains, reflect that period.

Surprise feature:: The second level of the home's incorporated smokehouse (once used for pine cone storage) now houses a washer and dryer. This "laundry room" even has places to hang damp clothing on the room's original meat hooks.

Personal touch:: Kim Little, an artist and designer, has meticulously stenciled the walls of every room in the house in a variety of patterns true to the period. She has also created a bucolic landscape mural on the front stairway.