Dorsey Hall - Ellicott City, MD - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Source of detailed information is the Maryland Historic Trust at the secondary website address below.

Description: Dorsey Hall is a six bay by one bay, 2 1/2-story stucco structure with a gable roof covered with asphalt shingles. This comprises the center and east sections of the house. Facing south, the house has a three bay by one bay, two-story stuccoed wing on the west. The first story of the main block has large 6/6 windows in the two west bays. The west-center bay has a six-panel door flanked by Greek Doric columns separating the door from 16-light sidelights. There is a 10-light transom above the door and a 4-light transom above each sidelight. Soffit and jambs are also paneled. There is a one-story porch with a brick deck, paired Greek Doric columns at each corner with a single pilaster on each wall, and a full entablature with pediment. The three east bays have 4/4 sash windows on the first story. The second story has 12/8 windows in the two west bays, while the four east bays have 9/6 windows. The south elevation of the west wing has 9/9 sash windows in the end bays of the first story. The second story has three 6/6 sash. There is a wooden box cornice with an ogee bed mold on both the main block and the wing. A flush brick chimney rises from both the east and west gable ends, and an exterior brick chimney on the east abuts the flush chimney. The roof has three gable-roofed dormer windows on the south side. On the interior, the first-story floor plan has an off-center passage with one room to the east, two rooms to the west of the passage, in the center of the whole house, a wing on the west side with one room and a stairway, and a wing on the north side of the center rooms with two rooms in it. There are no outbuildings to the property, and the ground has been re-graded so that it slopes away from the house at a greater angle than originally. The house is now surrounded by two-story office buildings.

Significance: Dorsey Hall is significant architecturally, as it embodies the distinctive characteristics of a well-preserved and detailed example of the vernacular dwellings of the early 19th century in Howard County. Where some buildings were constructed in one period in a typical center-passage Georgian mode, others, like Dorsey Hall, evolved into that pattern over many years, often resulting in a less-symmetrical building. Dorsey Hall is a good example of this kind of development. It is also significant for its association with the Dorsey family, one of the "first families" of Howard County.

Street address: 5100 Dorsey Hall Drive Ellicott City, MD United States 21042 County / Borough / Parish: Howard County Year listed: 2001 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1925-1949, 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874, 1825-1849, 1800-1824 Historic function: Domestic Current function: Professional Offices (Register Listing Incorrect: states Vacant/Not In In) Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   05/19/2011 Searcher28 visited it